Pension pot calculator
See what your pension could be worth by the time you plan to retire. Most of us have never actually looked. Ten minutes now is easier than finding out at 60.
Updated for the 2026/27 tax year · reviewed
Your pension
UK auto-enrolment requires a minimum of 8% of qualifying earnings, made up of at least 3% from your employer - the defaults above (5% + 3%) match that minimum. Tax relief on your own contributions isn't modelled here; this projects the contribution amounts you enter.
Projected pension pot at 67
£543,884
32 years of growth from £40,000 today
Total contributions
£140,800
Investment growth
£363,084
Contribution per month
£366.67
you + employer, combined
Pot by age
How much of the growing pot is money paid in, versus investment growth on top.
A pot is a number. Retiring is a cash-flow problem.
What matters is what this pot pays you each year, when the State Pension starts, and how much tax you lose on the way. Map the whole retirement, not just the total.
Create your free accountHow this calculator works
Your monthly contribution is worked out as salary × (your % + your employer's %) ÷ 12. That contribution, plus your current pot, then grows at the assumed rate every month until your retirement age, the same compounding maths used across Quidworth's savings calculators.
Under UK auto-enrolment, employers must pay at least 3% of qualifying earnings into a workplace pension, with a legal minimum of 8% between you and your employer combined - the calculator's defaults (5% + 3%) match that minimum, though many schemes offer more.
This calculator does not model pension tax relief - the extra top-up the government adds to your own contributions. It projects the contribution amounts you enter as-is, so treat the result as a conservative estimate of the pot itself rather than a picture of your take-home pay.
Questions people ask
How much do employers have to contribute?
Under UK auto-enrolment, the legal minimum total contribution is 8% of qualifying earnings, made up of at least 3% from your employer and the rest from you, often 5%. Many employers offer more, so it's worth checking your scheme rather than assuming the minimum.
Does this calculator include tax relief?
No - pension contributions do receive tax relief in the UK, typically added automatically for basic-rate taxpayers with more reclaimable by higher and additional-rate taxpayers, but this calculator works from the contribution amounts you enter and doesn't model relief separately. Bear that in mind when comparing the result with take-home pay figures.
What growth rate is realistic for a pension?
Most pensions are invested in a mix of assets that has historically returned around 4-6% a year above inflation over the long term, though this varies by fund choice and isn't guaranteed. Try a lower rate alongside your main estimate to see a more cautious outcome.
Is my pension pot going to be enough?
That depends entirely on your target retirement income, other savings, and when you plan to access the state pension - there's no universal 'enough' figure. Use this calculator alongside the pension drawdown calculator to see how long a projected pot might actually last.
Last reviewed against 2026/27 UK rules. Projections are estimates for education, not financial advice. Understanding your projections.
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A calculator answers one question at a time.
The planner keeps all of them next to each other, so an overpayment you model today still shows up in the pension picture in twenty years.
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- Your figures carry over