This tool is designed to help you visualize your financial future. Whether you are planning solo or with a partner, this guide will walk you through every feature to ensure you get the most accurate projection possible. The default settings assume you will not receive a state pension and that tax bands are not increased each year in line with inflation. It is better to underestimate and have a nice surprise than overestimate and find you aren't achieving your goals. However, you can always change these settings whenever you like to see what the difference would be.

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1. The Dashboard Basics

• Tabs: At the top of the left panel, you can switch between different people (Person 1, Person 2, etc.) or view the combined Household result.

• Save & Load: Use the Save button to store your current plan in your browser's memory. The Load button restores your last saved session.

• Tooltips: If you aren't sure what a specific box does, hover over the small question mark icon next to its label for a quick explanation.

 

2. Basic Info (The Foundation)

This section defines your timeline and how the economy affects your money:

• Age & Retirement: Set your current age and the age you want to stop working.

• Salary & Pay Rise: Entering your current salary helps the tool calculate your monthly pension contributions automatically if you use a percentage. This also allows you to put in expected annual pay increases so these can be factored in.

• Inflation: This is the most important setting. The tool uses this to show all results in "Today's Money". This means if the chart says you’ll have £30,000, it means you'll have the same buying power that £30,000 has right now. Due to inflation you would actually be withdrawing higher amounts but the tool does all of these calculations for you in the background so you don't need to worry about this.

 

3. Your Savings Pots

The tool tracks three distinct types of accounts:

1. Pension: Models your workplace or private pension. It includes Employer Contributions and provides tax relief on the way in, but is taxable on the way out.

2. ISA: A tax-free savings account. Growth and withdrawals are completely free of UK tax.

3. GIA (General Investment Account): A taxable account with no deposit limits. Use this if you have filled your ISA but still have extra cash to invest.

 

4. The State Pension

Ticking this box includes the UK government payment in your plan.

• Start Age: Usually 67 or 68.

• Annual Amount: The full state pension is currently around £11,500 per year.

• Inflation Toggle: Keep this on if you believe the government will continue to increase the state pension to match rising prices.

 

5. Tax Strategy (Advanced)

This section helps you "stress-test" how much tax the government might take from your pension:

• 25% Tax-Free Method: Decide if you want to take your tax-free cash as one big lump sum when you retire, or take 25% tax-free with every single withdrawal.

• Increase Tax Bands (The Fiscal Drag Toggle): By default, this is Off, assuming tax thresholds stay frozen (meaning you pay more tax over time). Turn it On and set a year (like 2031) if you think the government will eventually raise thresholds to match inflation.

• Edit Bands: You can manually adjust the tax rates and limits to match current or future UK tax laws.

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6. Withdrawal Strategy

How do you want to take your money?

• Smart Mode (Recommended): Enter the Target Net Income you want to live on (e.g., £30,000). The tool will automatically calculate the most tax-efficient way to pull that cash from your Pension, ISA, and GIA to give you exactly that amount after tax. Therefore, once all of your tax free options have been exhausted, you may see some figures which are higher than your desired income. However, this is just the amount you need to withdraw to still achieve your selected Income.

• Manual Mode: Allows you to create specific "Periods" (e.g., withdraw £20k from Pension for 10 years, then £15k from ISA for 20 years).

 

7. Results & Charts

• Investment Growth: Shows the total value of your accounts over time.

• Withdrawal Sources: Shows where your spending money is coming from each year (State Pension vs ISA vs Pension).

• Depleted Age: In the summary, the tool tells you exactly at what age each pot is projected to hit zero.

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8. Comparison & Household Mode

• Comparison Mode: Use this to run a "What-If" scenario. You can compare your main plan against a version with lower market returns or higher contributions to see the difference.

• Household Mode: Combines the finances of multiple people. It models what happens to your joint wealth and identifies the year the total household savings might run out.