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What's your financial
freedom number?

Choose your lifestyle. Work out what you need invested.

See my number
Financial freedom lifestyle calculator

01 / Your lifestyle

What does enough look like?

Who are you planning for?
Where would you live?
Choose a lifestyle

Budget for one person. Spending, after tax. Rent and mortgage payments are extra. Monthly amounts are rounded.

What Moderate covers

More choice over how you spend your time: eating out, keeping a car and taking a proper holiday, without treating every outing as a special occasion.

Food & eating out
Regular meals out and takeaways, plus money to take others out for a meal.
Holidays
A fortnight in the Mediterranean and a long weekend in the UK.
Transport
A small used car, kept for several years, plus some taxis and rail travel.
Leisure
More room for hobbies, social activities and TV subscriptions.
Home
Bills, maintenance and a contingency for repairs. No rent or mortgage.
Clothes & family
More for clothing, gifts and some support for family members.

Source: Pensions UK/Loughborough University Retirement Living Standards (opens in a new tab) · June 2026 · 2025 costs. Standards and data provided by, and belonging to, Pensions UK and Loughborough University.

02 / Make it personal

Your numbers.

Household bills are already in the lifestyle budget.

Anything extra: pets, care, dependants or more travel.

For example, State Pension, a workplace pension or rental income. Enter what you keep after tax and any costs. Only include income available when you plan to stop working.

Don't count withdrawals from the same investment pot twice.

Illustrative withdrawal rate

4% is a starting assumption, not a promised return. A lower rate means a larger pot.

03 / Your number

Your financial freedom number.

Estimated portfolio needed

£817,500

£32,700 a year to cover after tax · 4% withdrawal rate.

Lifestyle / year (after tax)
£32,700
Housing & extras / year (after tax)
£0
Annual spending (after tax)
£32,700
Other annual income (after tax)
£0
Annual spending gap (after tax)
£32,700 / yr

Taxable withdrawals may mean you need more. This estimate does not allow for tax on investment withdrawals.

Same spending, different rates

3%
£1,090,000
3.5%
£934,286
4%
£817,500
5%
£654,000

04 / Your progress OptionalHow close am I?

ISAs, investments and pension pots for this household. Exclude your home and any capital already providing the other income entered above.

Pensions may not be accessible when you stop working. Check pension access ages ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Of this target—
Invested —Gap —

Enter your invested capital to see the gap. This is today's position, not a forecast.

05 / Pension comparison OptionalHow does my pension compare?

Your pension only.

One person's pension, even when planning for two. Not ISAs, property or State Pension.

The median includes valued final-salary pensions as well as investment pots. A SIPP balance alone isn't a like-for-like comparison.

Choose your age group to see the published median.

Source: Pensions Policy Institute, January 2026 (opens in a new tab) · Table 4. ONS survey: 2020–22, expressed in 2024 earnings terms. Great Britain; people with private pension wealth. These are historical estimates, not current pension balances.

A few things this number doesn't cover

Tax on withdrawals, investment fees, care costs and how long your money needs to last. Early retirement may also mean years without State Pension and higher transport costs. Use a regulated adviser for a personal plan. GOV.UK: tax on pension income ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Only deduct income available from the start. Keep any pot funding that income out of your progress total. Check your State Pension forecast ↗ (opens in a new tab)

The 4% approach started with historical US research over roughly 30 years: a first-year withdrawal, then inflation adjustments to that cash amount. It isn't a guarantee for a UK investor, a longer retirement or a concentrated small-cap portfolio. Bill Bengen on the 4% rule ↗ (opens in a new tab) · MoneyHelper on drawdown ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Sources & calculation

Spending and other income are after tax, in today’s money. Annual spending = the selected lifestyle or your own budget, plus housing and extras. The spending gap is annual spending less other income, with a minimum of £0. Estimated portfolio = annual spending gap ÷ withdrawal rate. No tax on withdrawals, future inflation or investment growth is included.

Pensions UK/Loughborough University Retirement Living Standards (opens in a new tab) · June 2026 release, based on 2025 costs. The budgets assume retirement-age spending, including free bus travel where available. Add your own housing, care, dependants and pet costs. Terms of use ↗ (opens in a new tab)

PPI: Underpensioned — Analysis of Pensions Wealth data (opens in a new tab) · January 2026, Table 4, page 7; valuation basis on page 9. The underlying ONS survey covers 2020–22; PPI presents these amounts in 2024 earnings terms. Includes valued defined-benefit pensions. Survey estimates are uncertain and aren't a live measure of people your age today.

An illustration, not financial advice or guaranteed income. Investment values can fall and your money could run out. Independent pensions guidance ↗ (opens in a new tab) · Full disclaimer.

Keep working through the numbers.

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