A free pension drawdown calculator from Compare Drawdown. It projects pension income drawdown for a pot you choose, including tax and platform charges, and shows how long the pot could last. It is a retirement drawdown calculator for guidance. It is not a forecast and it is not personal advice.
The drawdown pension calculator on this page illustrates flexi-access drawdown. Enter the pension pot, whether tax-free cash is taken first, the yearly income and whether that income rises with inflation. Then set growth, inflation, fund charges and a platform. Each year the calculator takes the withdrawal and the charges from the pot, works out the income tax, and applies that year's growth to what is left.
The results show whether the pot lasts, what is left in today's money, the starting withdrawal rate, year-one income and tax, and the charges and tax over the projection. A year-by-year table sits behind the chart. The inputs are stored in the page address, so a copied link repeats the same illustration.
Tax-free cash, when it is switched on, is 25% of the pot taken at the start, capped at the lump sum allowance. With it switched off, each withdrawal is treated as an uncrystallised funds pension lump sum (UFPLS): 25% tax-free until that allowance is used. Choosing a named platform applies that platform's published platform, drawdown and withdrawal charges. If a charge the plan needs is not published, the calculator names it and does not count it as £0. The flat 0.35% setting is labelled "a typical platform" inside the tool. It is not a named provider's fee.
When a named platform is selected, the page also runs the same plan on platforms that publish every charge the plan needs and whose published minimum pot the pension meets. It reports the one on which the pot lasts longest, then the one with the most left, then the one with the lowest charges. That is a comparison of this illustration, not a rating of the provider.
Tax on one withdrawal under an emergency code is a different estimate. Use the pension withdrawal tax calculator for that. Published platform charges for a pot size are on the fees and charges comparison.
The illustration uses 2026/27 rules and the settings below. Real returns vary from year to year, tax rules can change, and the result depends on personal circumstances.
How long a pension lasts in drawdown is the question this calculator illustrates. The answer moves with the pot, the income, returns, inflation, tax and charges. A poor run of returns at the start of retirement can exhaust a pot that lasted the full period when growth was the same every year. Nothing in the projection is guaranteed.
The 4% rule comes from William Bengen's 1994 study of US market history: withdraw 4% of the initial pot in year one and increase that amount with inflation each year, and in the periods he studied the money usually lasted around 30 years. A commonly quoted starting point is 3 to 4% a year. No rate is guaranteed. UK returns, charges, tax and how long you live can all differ from that study.
The starting withdrawal rate on this page is the first year's pension income divided by the pot left after any tax-free cash taken up front. The starting rate of 5.3% is above the 3 to 4% range often quoted as a first-year starting point. On these starting figures the pot runs out in year 23. Taking £12,000 a year, rising with inflation, is more than this pot sustains on these assumptions. The worked example below uses only those opening settings.
Drawdown can run out, because the pot stays invested. An annuity is a different contract: the pot is exchanged for an income the insurer pays. The drawdown vs annuity calculator sets out that difference. Which of them fits is a personal decision this illustration cannot make.
This is the illustration the calculator shows before any slider is moved. Every amount below is one of those opening settings, or a figure the calculator returns for them. Pounds are rounded to the nearest pound, as on the page.
Move any control and these figures change. Choosing a named provider replaces the flat platform charge with that provider's published charges.
Capital at risk. The value of investments can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than you invest. Tax rules can change and their effect depends on individual circumstances. This is guidance, not personal advice.
It is a free UK pension drawdown calculator from Compare Drawdown. It projects a pension in flexi-access drawdown, year by year, from the pot, income, tax and charges you enter. That is the same job as a pension income drawdown calculator or a retirement drawdown calculator: how a pot might pay an income, and how long that pot could last. It is an illustration for guidance. It is not a forecast and it is not personal advice.
There is no single answer. It depends on the pot, the income you take, investment returns, inflation, tax and charges. On these starting figures the pot runs out in year 23. Taking £12,000 a year, rising with inflation, is more than this pot sustains on these assumptions. The starting withdrawal rate on those figures is 5.3%. Change any setting and the result changes. No withdrawal rate is guaranteed.
The starting illustration uses a £300,000 pot, tax-free cash taken first, £12,000 a year rising with inflation, growth of 5% a year, inflation of 2.5%, a flat platform charge of 0.35% and a fund charge of 0.20%, projected for up to 30 years. It stops in the year the pot runs out. Growth and inflation stay constant unless you turn on the early-fall illustration. Withdrawals and charges are taken at the start of each year. Income tax uses 2026/27 bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, held at today's levels. The full new State Pension (£12,548) is included for the tax calculation only and rises with inflation. The triple lock is not modelled.
Usually up to 25% of a pension can be taken tax-free, capped at the lump sum allowance of £268,275 for most people. GOV.UK publishes that allowance. The rest is taxed as income in the year you take it, added to other income such as the State Pension. This calculator uses 2026/27 bands, including the reduced personal allowance above £100,000. A protected lump sum allowance can be higher. Once you take taxable money from drawdown, the most you can pay into money purchase pensions each year with tax relief falls from the standard £60,000 to £10,000. Taking only tax-free cash does not trigger it.
Compare Drawdown is free to use and for information only. The projection is an illustration of the figures you enter. It does not recommend a withdrawal, a provider or a product. Personal advice from Phil Handley at Arthur Browns Wealth Management Ltd (FCA 825843) is a separate, paid service.
Free, impartial guidance: Pension Wise offers free appointments to people aged 50 or over with a defined contribution pension, and MoneyHelper’s investment pathways comparison tool compares drawdown providers’ ready-made options. Both are backed by the government.