UK pension drawdown calculator
A pension drawdown calculator only earns its name if it gets the 25% right. Every withdrawal from a UK defined-contribution pot splits into a quarter that is tax-free and three quarters that are taxable income — so the tax you pay depends entirely on how much you take, and there is a level at which you pay nothing at all. Coastline computes it withdrawal by withdrawal, for every year of a plan, with the ISA and the State Pension in the same projection.
What each level of drawdown actually costs
One year of drawdown, no other income, England & Northern Ireland rates. The tax-free column is 25% of the gross withdrawal; the taxable column is the other 75%, stacked on top of the Personal Allowance:
| Gross out | Tax-free 25% | Taxable 75% | Income tax | Net | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £16,760 | £4,190 | £12,570 | £0 | £16,760 | 0.0% |
| £20,000 | £5,000 | £15,000 | £486 | £19,514 | 2.4% |
| £30,000 | £7,500 | £22,500 | £1,986 | £28,014 | 6.6% |
| £50,000 | £12,500 | £37,500 | £4,986 | £45,014 | 10.0% |
| £75,000 | £18,750 | £56,250 | £9,932 | £65,068 | 13.2% |
| £100,000 | £25,000 | £75,000 | £17,432 | £82,568 | 17.4% |
The effective rate climbs from nothing at £16,760 to 17.4% at £100,000, and it never reaches the headline band rate — because a quarter of every withdrawal is outside the tax system and the Personal Allowance absorbs part of the rest. It is also why "I'm a higher-rate taxpayer so drawdown costs me 40%" is usually wrong: at £50,000 out, the real cost is £4,986, or 10.0%.
Scotland changes the answer, and not always upward
| Gross out | England & N. Ireland | Scotland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| £16,760 | £0 | £0 | level |
| £20,000 | £486 | £462 | -£24 |
| £30,000 | £1,986 | £1,946 | -£40 |
| £50,000 | £4,986 | £5,026 | +£40 |
| £75,000 | £9,932 | £11,607 | +£1,675 |
| £100,000 | £17,432 | £19,482 | +£2,050 |
Scotland's 19% starter band makes modest drawdown marginally cheaper north of the border — £40 less on a £30,000 withdrawal. The 42% higher rate then bites much earlier, so a £75,000 withdrawal costs £1,675 more. Anyone drawing a big pot down in Scotland should model it as Scotland.
The move this tool exists for: pension into ISA
Since nothing forces money out of a UK pension, the reverse question matters more: how much should you take out voluntarily in a low-income year? Draw up to a chosen ceiling, pay the tax on the taxable 75%, and shelter the net in an ISA (£20,000 per adult per year) where it will never be taxed again. The engine models exactly that ladder:
- A £16,760 withdrawal costs £0 in tax and moves the whole £16,760 into the ISA — it fits inside the annual allowance, so nothing spills over.
- A £50,000 withdrawal costs £4,986, fills the £20,000 ISA allowance, and sends £25,014 to the GIA.
- Repeat it in the gap years before the State Pension starts and a large taxable pot becomes a large untaxable one, at a cost you chose in advance.
Two ceilings bound the strategy. The Lump Sum Allowance caps the tax-free quarter at £268,275 in total — the 25% of a £1,073,100 pot — and the engine tracks how much of it you have used. And once the State Pension starts, its £12,548 a year uses up nearly all of the £12,570 Personal Allowance, leaving only £22 of it for anything else. The tax-free window is the years before that.
Nothing is ever forced out — and nothing comes out early
Two rules bookend a UK pot, and both are modelled literally. There is no minimum drawdown at any age: a pot can be left entirely untouched for life, which the projection will happily show. And there is no early access at all before the normal minimum pension age — 55 today, 57 from 6 April 2028, with no penalty-charge route around it. A plan retiring at 50 in 2026 sees the pot open at 57: 7 years to fund from an ISA and a GIA first. That bridge, not the pot, is what decides whether an early UK retirement works.
What this does and doesn't model
- Phased UFPLS, not a single lump sum. Every withdrawal is split 25/75 as it happens. Taking one up-front 25% commencement lump sum and putting the rest into drawdown is a different shape and is not modelled as such — model it as a one-off untaxed windfall in the year you take it if that is your plan.
- The Money Purchase Annual Allowance is not enforced. Flexibly accessing a pot really does cut future contributions to £10,000; the engine carries the figure but does not apply it, because no modelled scenario contributes after drawdown begins.
- Individual taxation throughout. There is no joint assessment in the UK, so a couple is two taxpayers with two Personal Allowances and two ISA allowances — and one combined pot whose draws are split across the two returns.
- Rates and thresholds are 2026/27, with the statutory freeze held to 5 April 2031 and inflation applied only afterwards.
Why this one is different
Most free calculators aimed at the United Kingdom do one of two things: apply a single flat "tax rate" to everything, or quietly run a model built for somewhere else with the currency symbol swapped. Coastline runs a separate United Kingdom engine:
- Real United Kingdom tax rules, year by year. It applies income tax with the correct stacking order (non-savings, then savings, then dividends), the Personal Allowance taper above £100,000, National Insurance that stops at State Pension age, Capital Gains Tax on the GIA, and the three income-tax jurisdictions — rUK, Scotland and Wales — as separate rate tables — recomputed every single projection year rather than once.
- The right accounts, with the right access rules. A pension balance is modelled as a pension balance — including the ages at which you can and cannot reach it, which is where a borrowed model goes most badly wrong.
- Saving and spending, end to end. Accumulation and drawdown in one projection, so the plan connects rather than stopping at a target number.
- The arithmetic is shown. Every figure opens into the calculation behind it — you can check the model instead of trusting it.
- Free, no signup. No account, no email, no bank linking. Your inputs run the projection and are then discarded.
Start from the UK retirement calculator if you want the "how much do I need" answer first, or the bridge calculator if the locked years are your problem. The safe withdrawal rate tool takes the same question from the portfolio side, and the methodology spells out how each figure is computed.
Educational projections, not financial or tax advice. All figures are 2026/27 rates in today's pounds, for a single taxpayer with no other income unless stated. Pension rules are unforgiving about detail — confirm anything decision-critical with a regulated adviser.
Common questions
How much can I take from my pension tax-free each year?
With no other income, £16,760 gross a year costs £0 in income tax: £4,190 is the tax-free 25% and the remaining £12,570 fits inside the £12,570 Personal Allowance. Above that level tax begins. Any salary, rental income or State Pension in the same year reduces the room and lowers that ceiling.
How is pension drawdown taxed in the UK?
Each withdrawal is 25% tax-free and 75% taxable as income, stacked on top of your other income. That makes the effective rate much lower than the headline band: a £50,000 withdrawal with no other income costs £4,986, an effective 10.0%, and £100,000 costs £17,432, an effective 17.4%.
Is there a limit on tax-free pension cash?
Yes — the Lump Sum Allowance caps the tax-free element at £268,275 across your lifetime, which is the 25% of a £1,073,100 pot. Coastline tracks how much of the allowance each withdrawal uses and stops treating the quarter as tax-free once it is exhausted.
Should I move pension money into an ISA?
It is the standard UK drawdown play in a low-income year: withdraw up to a ceiling you choose, pay tax on the taxable 75%, and shelter the net inside the £20,000 annual ISA allowance where it is never taxed again. In the projection a £50,000 withdrawal costs £4,986 in tax, puts £20,000 into the ISA and £25,014 into a GIA. Whether it is worth it depends on your rate now versus later, which is exactly what the model compares.
Am I forced to take money out of my pension?
No. The UK has no minimum drawdown at any age — a pot can be left untouched for life, and the projection shows it compounding if that is what you choose. The constraint runs the other way: you cannot touch it before the normal minimum pension age, which is 55 now and 57 from 6 April 2028, with no penalty-based early access.
Does drawdown work differently in Scotland?
Yes. Scottish rates apply to non-savings income including pension drawdown. Modest withdrawals are slightly cheaper — £40 less tax on £30,000 — but the 42% higher rate starts much earlier, so £75,000 costs £1,675 more than in England. Coastline carries rUK, Scottish and Welsh rate tables separately.