What is the Retirement Tax Planning Calculator?
The Retirement Tax Planning Calculator helps you see how mixing different pots can change the tax you pay once you start drawing.
State Pension and a final-salary pension already use your tax-free allowance. The usual 25% tax-free share of a pension pot, money from an ISA, and money from a taxable account are each taxed in different ways. Over the next five years, the calculator compares a few options by take-home, tax, and what is left in the pots.
It is not a tax return, not emergency tax on a first payment, and not advice. Scotland is not modelled.
How the Calculator Works?
Enter the income you already get, then the pots you can draw from. You may only have some of them.
The calculator then runs five years of withdrawals, tax, and assumed growth on what is left. You do not choose how to take the 25% in the inputs. First it compares three ways to take tax-free cash from a pension pot: 25% of each withdrawal, a lump in year 1, or none. Then it ranks other mixes under the tax-free option you select. Scotland, National Insurance, and your provider’s own rules are left out. Figures are illustrative only, not advice.
Step 1: Add what you are drawing
Add regular income and the pots you can draw from. Set assumed growth on money left in pots.
Step 2: Choose how to rank the options
Pick Balanced, Most take-home, Lowest tax, or Pots last longer. Balanced gives a bit more weight to take-home over the next five years. This changes the order of the list, not which option is right for you.
Step 3: Compare the paths
Tax-free cash first, then which pots to draw from. Tap a row for the year-by-year figures. Your current mix is the percentages you typed, under the tax-free option you selected. Lump size only changes the lump row.
Disclaimer: This calculator provides an illustration of tax and take-home over five years. It is not a tax return, a tax bill, or financial advice. It uses 2026/27 rules for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Check HMRC and your provider before you act.
Understanding Your Results
The three headline figures are take-home over 5 years, tax over 5 years, and pots left. The score /100 only ranks the rows in that table against each other. It is not a recommendation.
Take-home over 5 years
Cash you keep after the tax the model applies, including tax-free cash from the pension pot. It is not your monthly bank balance after bills.
Tax over 5 years
Income tax, dividend tax and capital gains in this model. Not National Insurance. Not a self-assessment bill.
Pots left
Pension pot, ISA and taxable account after five years of withdrawals and assumed growth. Growth is your assumption, not a forecast.
What this leaves out
Scotland, National Insurance, leftover tax-free cash tracking beyond the limit you typed in, inflation, inheritance tax on unused pots from 6 April 2027, and provider rules.
Other calculators
Emergency tax calculator
Tax taken on a first pension payment when there is no tax code yet.
Pension drawdown tax calculator
Tax on pension withdrawals over a longer income plan.
Tax-free lump sum calculator
The 25% tax-free share of a pension payment.
More calculators are on the homepage.
Once you start drawing, tax depends on which pots you use
These examples show five-year take-home, tax, and leftover pots under Balanced ranking. Change any number.
Helen, with a final-salary pension already paying
Age 67 · Full new State Pension · Final-salary pension £22,000 · Pension pot £45,000 · ISA £35,000
Most of Helen’s income is already taxed as pension. The extra pots are small, so mixing them barely moves the five-year tax.
- 25% of each withdrawal: take-home £166,364 · tax £23,323 · pots left £79,362
- 25% lump in year 1: take-home £175,371 · tax £23,323 · pots left £68,202
- Lean on the ISA: take-home £166,614 · tax £22,827 · pots left £79,629
What Helen takes from it
The lump gives her about £9,000 more take-home over five years, and leaves about £11,000 less in the pots. Tax is the same on those two tax-free options. Leaning on the ISA cuts about £500 of tax. The calculator does not say which option she should pick.
Mo, a large pension pot plus an ISA
Age 67 · Full new State Pension · Pension pot £380,000 · ISA £90,000 · Taxable account £40,000
Mo’s comparison is how much comes from the pension pot versus the ISA.
- 25% of each withdrawal: take-home £158,827 · tax £11,717 · pots left £508,043
- 25% lump in year 1: take-home £234,887 · tax £11,717 · pots left £413,801
- Lean on the ISA: take-home £159,638 · tax £10,471 · pots left £508,515
What Mo takes from it
The lump takes about £95,000 tax-free in year 1, so five-year take-home is much higher and leftover pots are about £94,000 lower. Tax over five years is the same as taking 25% of each withdrawal. Leaning on the ISA cuts about £1,250 of tax while keeping more in the pots. The calculator does not say which option he should pick.
Priya, with pay already using most of the tax-free allowance
Age 66 · Full new State Pension · Part-time pay £22,000 · Pension pot £400,000 · ISA £45,000
Priya’s pay already uses a lot of the tax-free allowance, so extra pension withdrawals can push her into the higher rate band.
- Your current mix: take-home £255,774 · tax £40,678 · pots left £401,804
- Stay in basic rate: take-home £223,211 · tax £33,180 · pots left £447,167
- 25% lump in year 1: take-home £327,088 · tax £40,678 · pots left £312,513
What Priya takes from it
Staying in basic rate means about £33,000 less take-home over five years, about £7,500 less tax, and about £45,000 more left in the pots. The lump still gives the most take-home over the next five years. The calculator does not say which option she should pick.
What is the Retirement Tax Planning Calculator?
The Retirement Tax Planning Calculator helps you see how mixing different pots can change the tax you pay once you start drawing. Over the next five years it compares a few options by take-home, tax, and what is left in the pots. It is an illustration only, not advice.
What is tax-free cash?
Most pension pots let you take 25% tax free. In this calculator that can be 25% of each withdrawal, a lump in year 1 (up to 25% of the pot and your remaining lifetime limit), or none. 25% of each withdrawal is not the same as splitting 25% of the whole pot over five years.
What is an ISA?
An Individual Savings Account. Withdrawals are usually tax free in this model.
What is a GIA?
A general investment account: shares or funds outside an ISA. Selling can create capital gains. This calculator treats each GIA withdrawal as a capital gain in full, which is a simplification.
Does it include emergency tax?
No. Emergency tax is the extra tax a provider can take on a first payment when they have no tax code yet. Use the Emergency Tax Calculator for that.
Does it include Scotland?
No. Year 1 uses 2026/27 rules for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Years 2 to 5 use the April 2027 savings and property rates.
How is this different from the drawdown tax calculator?
The Pension Drawdown Tax Calculator looks at tax on pension withdrawals over a longer income plan. This calculator mixes several pots over five years and compares tax-free cash paths, then other draw mixes.
How is this different from the tax-free lump sum calculator?
That calculator estimates how much of one payment can be tax free. This one compares taking that 25% as you draw, as a year 1 lump, or not at all, alongside ISAs and other pots. Use the 25% tax-free lump sum calculator for the size of one payment.
Can two people use it?
This model is one person. For two incomes, try the Couples’ Retirement Tax Splitter.
Can I export the results?
Yes. After the results, Get my CSV downloads the options and the tax figures. You will be asked for your name and email.
Is this financial advice?
No. The figures are planning illustrations only. Tax rules and your situation can change. Check HMRC and your pension provider before you act.
Trust and education
Certified Money First Aider®
These calculators are built by a Certified Money First Aider to help you think more clearly about money and time. Money First Aid® is about practical, non-judgemental support for financial wellbeing. The calculators can certainly help you make informed decisions, but they are not regulated financial advice.
Behind Retirement Calculators
Built from the questions I was asking myself
I'm Ryan, the person behind Retirement Calculators. I started the site after selling an online business and trying to understand what our pensions, ISAs, investments and property actually meant for the way we wanted to live.
The calculators are built around those real decisions: whether you could work less, retire earlier, spend more now or use your money differently. They will not give you a perfect answer, but they can make the trade-offs much easier to see.
Have an idea for a calculator, spotted something that could be clearer, or want to ask me about the site?
Let me help you navigate the road to retirement
Free. Unsubscribe any time.
Thanks. You are on the list.