Retirement planning in the UK means setting a target, counting the State Pension, then choosing how to save; this guide links each step.

Planning for retirement in the UK is a handful of jobs done in order: put a figure on the life you want, see what the State Pension covers, count what workplace and personal pensions can add, and decide how you will draw the money; each step below links to a fuller guide. For the drawing stage, Pension Wise gives free, impartial, government-backed guidance on UK defined contribution pots, from age 50 or earlier in some cases. If you would rather have your pensions, tax and State Pension looked at together, this page's short form arranges a no-cost chat with an FCA-authorised adviser about the whole plan.

How do you plan for retirement in the UK?

Start from the end and work back: each step gives you the number the next one needs.

  1. Decide what a year of retirement should cost. A target to aim at, covered in the lifestyle section and in how much pension you need.
  2. Find out your State Pension. Check it early; see the State Pension guide.
  3. List every other pension you hold. Old workplace schemes are easy to lose track of: finding a lost pension and the pensions dashboard help.
  4. Work out the gap and how to fill it. Contributions, tax relief and your age all matter here, and a pension forecast shows where you are heading.
  5. Decide how and when to take the money. The step with the most options, so it comes last and has its own section below.

Nobody has to do all five at once. If you are weeks from retiring, jump to taking the money; if you are decades away, the saving sections matter more.

Retirement planning step one: what the life you want costs

A plan needs a target before it needs a product. A widely used yardstick is the Retirement Living Standards from Pensions UK, formerly the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), which price three ways of living in retirement; for one person they run from £13,900 a year at the minimum level to £45,400 at the comfortable one. Those are spending figures, not the income you need, and they leave out rent or a mortgage. The Standards' page gives its research timing as "carried out during 2025 with modelling completed in 2026", so check for an update before relying on a number.

The two-person figures, what else to add, and how to turn a spending target into a pot size are all in how much pension do I need. Write your own figure down, even a rough one: every later step is measured against it.

What the State Pension adds to a retirement plan

With a target in hand, the State Pension is the first income to set against it. DWP's figure for the full new State Pension in 2026/27 is £241.30 a week, but your own amount depends on your National Insurance record. Any new State Pension needs 10 qualifying years, and GOV.UK says that if your record started after April 2016 you need 35 qualifying years for the full rate; someone who was contracted out will usually need more than 35. So GOV.UK's State Pension forecast is a better guide to your own figure than any average; deferral, tax and Pension Credit are in the State Pension guide.

On timing, State Pension age is the earliest point at which the State Pension can start, and it can be a different age from the one at which a workplace or personal pension can be drawn. The government's timetable has people born from 6 April 1960 to 5 March 1961 reaching it at 66 plus a set number of months, and people born from 6 March 1961 to 5 April 1977 at 67. GOV.UK also says the age is under review and may change in the future, so use its State Pension age calculator for your date and recheck it as retirement nears.

Whether it can carry a household alone is answered in can you live on the UK State Pension, and retiring with no other pension covers the thinnest case.

Workplace and personal pensions: where the rest comes from

The gap between your target and the State Pension is what your own savings have to fill. For most employees that starts with a workplace pension: GOV.UK's automatic enrolment rules apply to someone classed as a worker, aged between 22 and State Pension age, earning at least £10,000 a year and usually working in the UK. The legal minimum on a band of earnings is 8% in total, 3% of it from the employer and 5% from you, though a scheme's rules can set higher amounts. In a plan, that minimum is a floor, not a measure of whether you are on track; the auto-enrolment rules and the minimum contribution guide have the detail.

Anyone self-employed, or wanting to save more, can arrange a personal pension themselves, including a stakeholder pension or a SIPP. The provider invests the money and the investments can go up or down, so the value can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than was paid in. Personal pension plans, SIPPs and pensions for the self-employed each have a guide, and how much a self-employed person should pay in is separate again.

Both kinds usually come with tax relief on what you pay in; pension charges and transferring a pension are worth reading before you move anything, and a final salary pension works differently from both.

Several pots, and no clear idea how they add up next to the State Pension? An FCA-authorised adviser can talk you through how they combine in one sitting; request a call-back with the form here and the first conversation costs nothing.

Free retirement planning tools and where to get help

You do not need to pay for software to start. The State Pension forecast above is free, and for other pensions your provider sends a yearly statement and, if you ask, an estimate of what you will get when you start taking the pot; the pension forecast guide shows how. The pension calculator guide compares online calculators, which are only as good as the numbers fed in. If you are weighing paid help, see what pension advice costs.

For guidance rather than advice, MoneyHelper offers a free Pension Wise appointment to anyone with a UK-based defined contribution pension who is 50 or over, and to some younger people: those who have inherited a pension, are retiring early because of poor health, or whose scheme lets them take their pension before 55. GOV.UK notes that Pension Wise leaves out the State Pension and final salary and career average schemes, so it will not help with every pot you hold. And if someone rings out of the blue about your pension, the FCA's pension scams page says hanging up is the safest response, because such a cold call is illegal and probably a scam; the pension scams guide has more.

The tax limits to know while you save

Tax relief on contributions is limited. GOV.UK gives the annual allowance, the yearly limit on pension saving before tax is due, as £60,000 for 2026/27, and it can be lower for anyone who has already drawn flexibly from a pension, or whose income is high. The annual allowance and the tapered allowance for high earners cover the cases that catch people out. The lifetime allowance, which older articles still mention, was abolished on 6 April 2024, and what replaced it is explained in the lifetime allowance guide.

Planning how to take the money

This step has the most choices, and some are hard to undo. A defined contribution pot can be taken as cash, as a guaranteed income for life (an annuity), or invested for an adjustable income (drawdown), and GOV.UK adds that your provider may not offer every option. You can usually take up to 25% of what you have built up tax-free, up to £268,275, which is the lump sum allowance. The choices have a guide each: your defined contribution options at retirement, annuities, drawdown and tax on drawdown, and the tax-free lump sum.

If you have a final salary pension, the choices are different and come from the scheme: final salary pension options at retirement sets them out. For anyone hoping to stop early, the earliest age you can take a pension matters: HMRC sets the normal minimum pension age at 55, going up to 57 on 6 April 2028. Members of the firefighters', police and armed forces public service schemes are not affected by that rise, and people with a protected pension age or retiring through ill health follow separate rules. Working on after you start drawing is covered in taking a pension and still working.

Your home can also be part of a plan; the equity release guide explains one option some people look at.

Questions about retirement planning in the UK

What is a retirement plan?

It is a written-down answer to three questions: what you will spend, what income you will have from the State Pension and your other pensions, and how you will draw it. The five steps near the top of this page are one way to build it.

What should go on a list of retirement expenses?

Start with the Standards' own groupings: house, food, transport, holidays and leisure, and clothing and personal. Then add the items they leave out, such as rent or a mortgage, social care and dependants.

Is a spreadsheet or planning software worth using?

It can help, as long as the inputs come from your forecasts and statements, not guesses. Unsure which suits a mix of pots? Send the enquiry form and, on the call, an FCA-authorised adviser can explain the choice at no cost.

How long is it until I can retire?

There are two dates to find. GOV.UK's State Pension age calculator gives the first; the second is the earliest age a private or workplace pension can usually be taken, which is 55 now and 57 from 6 April 2028, with the exceptions above. The date you actually stop work can be earlier or later than either, and retiring early covers the trade-offs.

How do I plan retirement as a UK expat?

This guide covers the UK position only, and tax and pension rules in the country you live in need advice there. GOV.UK says you can claim the State Pension abroad if you have paid enough National Insurance; what happens to your pension if you move abroad goes into the UK side.

Your next step

Work out the step you are on, then use the guide that matches it. If talking the whole plan over with an FCA-authorised adviser would help, the call-back form is here, and that first conversation carries no fee.