What is the earliest age I can take my pension?

The normal minimum pension age is 55 before 6 April 2028 and 57 on and after it, by the date you take the money and not your date of birth. Unless you can draw before 6 April 2028, plan on 57. Pension schemes for the uniformed services stay at 55. Some people have a protected pension age lower than that, and you may be able to take money out earlier if you retire because of ill health. The calculator uses the normal minimum pension age and does not model the exceptions.

Why does an early retirement need ISAs as well as a pension?

If you stop work before the normal minimum pension age you cannot normally draw on a pension, so the years until then must be paid from savings outside it. ISAs are the usual place because you do not pay tax on the interest, income or gains in one. You can put in £20,000 a year in the 2026 to 2027 tax year.

How much of my pension is tax-free?

Up to 25% of a pension can usually be taken tax-free, to a limit called the lump sum allowance, which is £268,275. Tax is due on the rest when you take it. The calculator shows the tax-free part and does not work out the tax on the rest.

What is the money purchase annual allowance?

If you start taking taxable money from a defined contribution pension in certain ways, such as flexi-access drawdown, the most that can be paid into pensions each year before a tax charge falls from the usual annual allowance to £10,000. It matters if you plan to take money out and also keep saving into a pension. This page does not model it.

Does the State Pension count in the pot?

Yes, from your State Pension age, in today's pounds. The pot you need is lower because the pension takes over part of your spending later. The figure comes from the same calculation as the State Pension page, so check your own forecast at gov.uk/check-state-pension.

UK early retirement calculator

The pot you need to stop work before State Pension age: the ISA bridge, the pension years, then the State Pension.

To stop work at 50 on £30,000 a year, in today's pounds, the pot you need is

£686,128

That counts a State Pension of about £96.52 a week from age 68, in today's pounds. It is before income tax on what you draw, and splits into three parts, because the money in each can be used only from a different age. The figures here are an example: replace them with yours. Amounts are in pounds (£), from GOV.UK.

1. The bridge: ISAs and cash: £182,271; Ages 50 to 57: 7 years before a pension can normally be taken at 57. This must be outside the pension.
2. The pension: £185,951; Ages 57 to 68: 11 years between the normal minimum pension age and State Pension age, paid from the pension.
3. After State Pension age: £317,906; From age 68, with the State Pension counted, at a 4% withdrawal rate.

What you would hold at 50

ISAs and cash: £304,782; Covers the bridge of £182,271.
Pension: £362,622; Up to 25% of it, £90,655, can usually be taken tax-free, to a cap of £268,275.
Together: £667,404; £18,724 short of the £686,128 needed.

On these figures you are not there at 50: £18,724 short in all. You reach State Pension age on 15 June 2058.

Day you were bornFrom 1 to 31.Month you were born1 for January. From 1 to 12.Year you were bornFrom 1960 to 2010.

Your age nowWhole years. Your date of birth sets the pension ages; this sets how many years you still save. From 18 to 66.Age you stop workFrom 30 to 70.Yearly spending once you stopIn today's pounds. From 1,000 to 1,000,000.£Qualifying years on your record nowFrom your State Pension forecast at gov.uk/check-state-pension. Leave at 0 if you do not know yet; the years you work until you stop are added.ISAs and cash nowMoney you can use at any age.£Saved into ISAs and cash each yearUntil you stop work.£Defined contribution pensions nowWorkplace and personal pensions whose value is a pot of money. Not a final salary or other defined benefit pension.£Paid into pensions each yearIncluding your employer's share and tax relief. Until you stop work.£Return above inflation, %Your assumption, for the pot you hold and the pot you need. Not a forecast. From 0 to 10, up to 2 decimal places.Withdrawal rate, %The share of the pot you take each year. 4% is the common rule, from Bengen (1994), a study of US market history. From 2 to 10, up to 2 decimal places.

Everything is in today's pounds, and the State Pension is held flat in them. Not modelled: protected pension ages, income tax on what you draw beyond the tax-free part, the money purchase annual allowance, defined benefit schemes, tax relief on contributions, and charges. The link carries your figures after the #, so you can save or share it. Your figures are not sent to us.

Three ages decide how you pay for each year

The day you stop work starts the bridge. Until the normal minimum pension age, spending comes from ISAs and cash, so what you hold outside a pension matters more than the total.

The normal minimum pension age is 55 and rises to 57 on 6 April 2028. The Finance Act 2004 sets it by the date the money is taken: 55 before 6 April 2028, 57 on and after it. The calculator uses the age in force on the first day you could draw, your birthday at the later of the age you stop and 55. Schemes for the uniformed services stay at 55 and are not modelled.

State Pension age comes from your date of birth and is later again. From then the State Pension pays part of your spending, and the pot needed from that age is smaller.

The pot you need today is the cost of all three stretches, each priced at the return you enter. The calculator adds them up so the parts equal the total.

The rules the page uses

Tax-free part. Up to 25% of a pension can usually be taken tax-free, to the lump sum allowance of £268,275. The calculator shows this beside your pension at the age you stop. It does not tax the remainder: income tax on drawdown depends on your other income and on the year.

ISAs. You can save £20,000 a year in ISAs in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, which sets how fast the bridge can be built. The calculator does not cap what you enter.

The money purchase annual allowance. Once you flexibly access a defined contribution pension, the most that can be paid into pensions each year before a tax charge can drop to £10,000. Anyone who plans to draw an early income and keep paying in should read the government's guidance first. It is not modelled here.

What is not modelled. Protected pension ages, income tax on drawdown beyond the tax-free part, the money purchase annual allowance, defined benefit schemes, tax relief on contributions, and charges. Each can change your answer. This is a planning aid and not financial advice: a regulated adviser can help with your own case.

Questions people ask

What is the earliest age I can take my pension?: The normal minimum pension age is 55 before 6 April 2028 and 57 on and after it, by the date you take the money and not your date of birth. Unless you can draw before 6 April 2028, plan on 57. Pension schemes for the uniformed services stay at 55. Some people have a protected pension age lower than that, and you may be able to take money out earlier if you retire because of ill health. The calculator uses the normal minimum pension age and does not model the exceptions.
Why does an early retirement need ISAs as well as a pension?: If you stop work before the normal minimum pension age you cannot normally draw on a pension, so the years until then must be paid from savings outside it. ISAs are the usual place because you do not pay tax on the interest, income or gains in one. You can put in £20,000 a year in the 2026 to 2027 tax year.
How much of my pension is tax-free?: Up to 25% of a pension can usually be taken tax-free, to a limit called the lump sum allowance, which is £268,275. Tax is due on the rest when you take it. The calculator shows the tax-free part and does not work out the tax on the rest.
What is the money purchase annual allowance?: If you start taking taxable money from a defined contribution pension in certain ways, such as flexi-access drawdown, the most that can be paid into pensions each year before a tax charge falls from the usual annual allowance to £10,000. It matters if you plan to take money out and also keep saving into a pension. This page does not model it.
Does the State Pension count in the pot?: Yes, from your State Pension age, in today's pounds. The pot you need is lower because the pension takes over part of your spending later. The figure comes from the same calculation as the State Pension page, so check your own forecast at gov.uk/check-state-pension.

Sources: Finance Act 2004 section 279 (normal minimum pension age), GOV.UK, lump sum allowance, individual savings accounts, and HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual on the money purchase annual allowance. State Pension figures are on the State Pension page. Your own pension ages and forecast are at check your State Pension forecast.