Pension Calculator — What Your Pot Could Be Worth
Project your pension pot at retirement from what you have saved today, your monthly contributions, your employer’s contributions, and an assumed growth rate — plus an example monthly income the pot could support.
Your pension plan
Advanced options
Both start at 0, so the standard projection is unchanged until you set them.
🔒 All calculations happen in your browser — no data leaves your device.
Your projected pot
- The default pot — $50,000 today plus $450 a month combined — grows to $442,043.89 in 25 years at 5%.
- You and your employer put in $185,000 of that; growth adds the other $257,043.89.
- At the 4% example rate the pot supports about $1,473.48 a month, and the default $2,000-a-month pension beats the $300,000 lump sum by $42,120.09 in today’s dollars.
- Survivor cover costs less than most people expect in the model below: the $2,000 single-life pension becomes $1,878.34 a month as a joint pension with a 50% survivor benefit — 6.08% less — and both options are worth the same $319,856.32 in today’s dollars.
- Delaying pays twice: a $200,000 pot with $450 a month going in reaches $249,733.45 after 3 extra years of work — $49,733.45 more, of which only $16,200 is extra contributions.
Lump sum or monthly pension?
If your pension plan offers a one-time lump sum instead of monthly payments, enter both offers here. The calculator values the monthly pension as a single amount in today’s dollars, and shows the return the lump sum would need to earn to match it.
Your two offers
Which offer is worth more today?
The present value adds up every future payment, each shrunk by the discount factor for the month it arrives:
Here P is the monthly payment in that month (growing with the COLA), d is the discount rate divided by 12, and n is the number of monthly payments.
Single-life or joint-and-survivor?
A single-life pension pays the most each month but stops when you die. A joint-and-survivor pension pays less while you live, then keeps paying your spouse a share of it for the rest of their life. Enter your single-life offer and both planning ages; the tool models the joint pension on the actuarial-equivalence assumption set out below, so you can see what the survivor cover costs per month.
Your pension and your spouse
What the survivor cover costs
The assumption, stated plainly. This model uses actuarial equivalence: the joint pension is set so that the value in today’s dollars of the payments while both of you live, plus the survivor payments afterwards, exactly equals the value of the single-life pension. Payments are assumed to run to the planning ages you enter — fixed ages, not probabilities of dying — to rise by the COLA once a year, and to be valued at your discount rate. Real pension plans use their own mortality tables, spouse-age rules and conversion factors, so your plan’s actual joint pension will differ from this model, sometimes by a lot. Treat the result as the shape of the trade-off, and ask your plan for its own figures before deciding.
How the survivor percentage changes the picture, at the numbers currently in the tool:
| Survivor benefit | Joint pension (a month) | To your spouse afterwards | Monthly reduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% | $1,878.34 | $939.17 | 6.08% |
| 66⅔% | $1,841.01 | $1,227.40 | 7.95% |
| 75% | $1,822.90 | $1,367.18 | 8.85% |
| 100% | $1,770.64 | $1,770.64 | 11.47% |
Modelled on the actuarial-equivalence assumption above. The table updates when you change the inputs and press Compare.
Retire now or work longer?
Working longer pays twice: more contributions go in, and everything compounds for longer before you start drawing on it. Enter your pot and contributions, choose how much longer you might work, and see both sides of the trade — the pot if you stop now versus the pot if you keep going.
Your pot and the extra years
Now versus later
Year by year, at the numbers currently in the tool:
| Extra years worked | Pot at retirement | Example monthly income (4% rule) |
|---|---|---|
| Retire now | $200,000.00 | $666.67 |
| 1 | $215,757.86 | $719.19 |
| 2 | $232,321.93 | $774.41 |
| 3 | $249,733.45 | $832.44 |
| 5 | $287,274.47 | $957.58 |
| 10 | $399,278.93 | $1,330.93 |
Same contributions and growth rate throughout. The table updates when you change the inputs and press Compare.
Watch the pot grow, year by year
The violet area is your projected pot; the dashed line is everything you and your employer put in. The gap between them is pure growth.
Keep exploring
Three companion tools for retirement money.
How it works
Three steps from your plan to a projected pot.
Start with today’s pot
Enter what is already saved — even $0. Your current pot compounds for the whole period.
Add both contributions
Your monthly amount plus your employer’s. Employer contributions are extra pay that grows too.
Set growth and years
Growth compounds monthly here, so time does the heavy lifting — the curve bends upward in later years.
The math behind your pension projection
Your projected pot is two growth engines added together: the current pot compounding on its own, and the stream of monthly contributions (yours plus your employer’s), each compounding for the months it stays invested. With monthly rate r = annual rate ÷ 12 and n = years × 12:
The example monthly income uses the familiar 4% rule: paying out 4% of the pot per year, divided by 12. It is only an illustration — a real drawdown plan depends on your age, taxes, and the products you use.
Worked example: $50,000 pot, $300/month from you + $150/month from your employer, 5% growth, 25 years
| Item | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Current pot grown | $50,000 × (1.004167)300 | $174,064.52 |
| Contributions grown | $450/mo × annuity factor | $267,979.37 |
| Total put in | $50,000 + $450 × 300 months | $185,000.00 |
| Projected pot | $174,064.52 + $267,979.37 | $442,043.89 |
Go deeper
How a pension pot differs from general retirement saving — and what the projection leaves out.
A pension is not just your own saving with a different label — your employer’s money goes in on top, and it compounds for exactly as long as yours:
- It is extra pay: in the worked example, the employer’s $150 a month is one third of all monthly money going in.
- It grows the same way: of the $267,979.37 that monthly contributions build to in the example, about $89,326 comes from the employer’s $150 slices alone.
- Opting out can mean leaving money behind: reducing your contribution below the level your employer matches usually means their top-up shrinks too.
- Distinct from the retirement calculator: our retirement calculator models your whole savings timeline; this one focuses on the pension pot itself — what goes in, what it could become, and an example income from it.
Real pension pots rarely grow in a perfectly straight line. This calculator assumes:
- A constant growth rate: markets move up and down; the smooth rate here is an average, not a year-by-year path.
- Fees, at the rate you enter: fund and platform charges quietly reduce real pots — a 1% yearly charge takes $74,997.34 off the default projection over 25 years. The default view is before fees (0%); add your plan’s charges under Advanced options in the calculator to see the after-fees picture.
- Inflation, at the rate you enter: $442,043.89 in 25 years buys less than it does today — at 2.5% inflation a year it would feel like $238,434.32 in today’s money. The default view is nominal (0%); set an inflation rate under Advanced options to see the real-terms rows alongside the headline.
- No tax on withdrawals: pension income is usually taxable when you take it, and lump-sum rules vary by country and plan.
- Flat contributions: in real life contributions usually rise with pay, which would push the projected pot higher.
Treat the result as a planning target, review your real statements each year, and adjust the growth rate down if you want a more cautious picture.
Three countries, one question: what the state adds on top of your pot
The calculator above models your own pot only. In most retirement systems the state adds a second income — and its size changes the picture.
In the United Kingdom, the full new State Pension for 2026/27 is £241.30 a week, or £12,547.60 a year, for someone with the full 35 qualifying years — about £6.89 a week for each qualifying year, with at least 10 years needed for anything at all. It rises under the triple lock, by the highest of earnings growth, inflation, or 2.5%; the 2026/27 rise is 4.8% from £230.25. The figure matters for the calculator above because £12,547.60 sits just below the £12,570 personal allowance, so the full new State Pension on its own is almost exactly tax-free. In Canada, the state adds two incomes: the Canada Pension Plan, whose maximum at age 65 in 2026 is C$1,507.65 a month (C$18,091.80 a year), and Old Age Security, whose maximum for October to December 2026 is C$762.50 a month for ages 65 to 74 and C$838.75 from age 75. Together a Canadian with the maximum of both has roughly C$2,270 a month before any private pension — which is why the calculator’s warning that state benefits are not included cuts both ways. In India, the state-mandated piece is the Employees’ Provident Fund: 12% of basic pay plus dearness allowance from the employee and 12% from the employer, of which 8.33% of the employer’s share goes to the Employees’ Pension Scheme; the EPF interest rate for 2025/26 is 8.25%.
The honest way to use the calculator with these figures is to add them after, not before. Run the pot calculation, take the annual income it implies, then add the state income that applies to you, and compare the total with the income you want. The calculator’s 4% illustration — C$17,681.76 a year from a C$442,043.89 pot — looks very different once C$18,091.80 of maximum CPP is added to it, and a UK pot that yields £4,000 a year at 4% looks different again on top of £12,547.60 of State Pension. The state income is also the part you cannot move: the pot is yours to grow, the state pension is set by the rules of the country you live in, and planning has to respect the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about this pension calculator.
How is my projected pension pot calculated?
Your current pot compounds monthly at your chosen growth rate, and every monthly contribution — yours plus your employer’s — compounds for the months it stays invested. In the default example, a $50,000 pot plus $450 a month at 5% for 25 years projects to $442,043.89.
Why do employer contributions matter so much?
Because they are extra money that compounds exactly like your own. In the default example, the employer’s $150 a month builds to about $89,326 of the final pot — money you would partly leave on the table by contributing less than the matched level or opting out.
What growth rate should I use?
Many long-term illustrations use 4–6% a year for a mixed investment fund, before fees. A lower figure gives a more cautious projection; a higher one is more optimistic. No rate is guaranteed — try two or three and plan around the cautious end.
What does the 4% example income mean?
It simply takes 4% of the projected pot per year and divides it by 12. On a $442,043.89 pot that is $17,681.76 a year, or $1,473.48 a month. It is an illustration of scale, not a drawdown plan — real pension income depends on your age, taxes, and whether you draw down gradually or buy an annuity.
Does this include the state pension or Social Security?
No. This calculator covers only your own workplace or personal pension pot. Government retirement benefits are paid under separate rules — add them mentally on top of this projection when you plan, or check the dedicated estimators for them.
Is this pension advice?
No. It is a projection tool for information only, using one constant growth rate, with fees and inflation included only at the rates you enter in Advanced options, and no taxes. For decisions about contributions, transfers, or drawdown, consider speaking with a qualified, regulated financial advisor.
Should I take the lump sum or the monthly pension?
Compare the lump-sum offer with the present value of the monthly payments. The lump sum, invested, would need to earn the break-even return every year to match the pension. If you expect to earn less than that return, or you expect the payments to run for many years, the monthly pension is usually worth more on paper. If the break-even return looks easy to beat, or you want control and flexibility, the lump sum can come out ahead. The comparison on this page assumes payments start now and rise by the COLA you enter, and it ignores taxes and your health and plan rules — the single-life vs joint-and-survivor tool further down this page covers the survivor-benefit side — so a regulated financial advisor can weigh those for your situation.
How much is the maximum CPP in 2026?
C$1,507.65 a month at age 65, or C$18,091.80 a year. That is the maximum for a new retiree who contributed at the maximum level for their whole working life; the average new CPP retirement pension at 65 is C$858.34 a month. CPP is paid on top of Old Age Security, whose maximum for October to December 2026 is C$762.50 a month for ages 65 to 74 and C$838.75 from age 75.
What is the full UK State Pension in 2026/27?
£241.30 a week, or £12,547.60 a year, for someone with the full 35 qualifying years — about £6.89 a week for each qualifying year, with at least 10 years needed for any State Pension at all. It is 4.8% higher than the 2025/26 rate of £230.25 under the triple lock, and it sits just below the £12,570 personal allowance, so the full new State Pension on its own is almost exactly tax-free.
How is EPF pension calculated in India?
The Employees’ Provident Fund takes 12% of basic pay plus dearness allowance from the employee and 12% from the employer; 8.33% of the employer’s share goes to the Employees’ Pension Scheme, which pays the monthly pension, and the rest of the employer’s share goes to the provident fund itself. The EPF interest rate for 2025/26 is 8.25%. The pension is based on pensionable salary and pensionable service, and it is separate from the National Pension System, which is a market-linked account with its own rules.
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Disclaimer
This calculator provides projections for information only — not financial or pension advice. It assumes one constant growth rate with monthly compounding and contributions that never change; fund and platform fees and inflation are included only at the rates you enter in Advanced options (both 0% by default), and it excludes any tax due when you take pension income. Real investment returns vary year by year and are not guaranteed. The joint-and-survivor comparison is a model built on the actuarial-equivalence assumption stated on this page, not a quote or a factor from any real plan. For decisions about your pension, consider speaking with a qualified, regulated financial advisor.