Most people with a DC pension can take up to 25% of their pot tax-free, up to a lifetime cap of £268,275. The Finance Planner gives you three ways to use this — and you set your preference in Module 3.

THE THREE OPTIONS

Option 1 — Full lump sum at retirement

The full 25% is taken as a one-off payment on your retirement date. Simple and straightforward — the rest of your pot then moves into drawdown and is taxed as income when you withdraw it.

Option 2 — Spread across drawdown (UFPLS)

No lump sum is taken. Instead, every withdrawal you make from the pension in retirement is automatically 25% tax-free, with the remaining 75% taxed as income. This continues until your £268,275 lifetime allowance is used up. This approach can be more tax-efficient if taking a large lump sum would push you into a higher tax band in the year you retire.

Option 3 — Partial split

A middle ground: you choose a percentage to take as a lump sum at retirement, and the remainder is treated as UFPLS in drawdown. For example, choosing 50% means half your tax-free entitlement is paid as a lump sum; the other half is spread across future withdrawals.

HOW TO SET IT UP (Module 3)

1. Go to the Finance tab and open the Finance Planner wizard.
2. Navigate to Module 3 — DC Pensions.
3. Scroll to the Tax-Free Cash section.
4. Select your preferred option: Full lump sum, Spread across drawdown, or Partial split.
5. If you choose Partial split, enter the percentage you want as the lump sum.

This setting applies across all your DC pots combined — the planner allocates the tax-free entitlement from your DC pension first, before any DB commutation.

TAX-FREE CASH FROM A FINAL SALARY PENSION (Module 4)

If you also have a defined benefit (DB) or final salary pension, you can take a tax-free lump sum by exchanging part of your annual pension for a one-off payment. This is set up in Module 4 and uses a commutation factor of £20 lump sum per £1 of annual pension given up.

Important: DC and DB tax-free cash share the same £268,275 lifetime cap. If your DC pot is large enough to use the full cap, there’s nothing left for DB commutation. The planner handles this automatically.

WHICH OPTION IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

This is a personal financial planning decision. The planner lets you model all three options — change the setting in Module 3 and check Module 7 and Module 10 to see how each approach affects your projected income and tax position. If you’re unsure, speaking to a financial adviser is a good idea before making an irreversible choice.

RetirePlan — retireplan.co.uk | Using 2026/27 UK tax rates | This tool provides guidance only and does not constitute regulated financial advice.

Phased retirement — moving gradually from full-time work to full retirement — can be modelled in the Finance Planner using a combination of three features. Here’s how to set it up.

STEP 1 — SET YOUR FULL RETIREMENT AGE (Module 1)

Start by setting your Planned Retirement Age in Module 1 to the age at which you plan to fully stop working. This is the point the planner uses as its main target — when pension pots are valued, when drawdown begins, and when your State Pension is assumed to start.

Your phased period is modelled as adjustments leading up to that date.

STEP 2 — MODEL REDUCED HOURS IN A FINAL SALARY SCHEME (Module 4)

If you have an active defined benefit (DB) or final salary pension, use the Step-down option to tell the planner you plan to move to reduced hours before fully retiring.

1. Go to Module 4 — DB Pensions and open your active scheme.
2. Enable the Step-down toggle.
3. Enter the age at which you’ll reduce hours and your reduced salary from that point.

The planner adjusts your future pension accrual from that age — a lower salary means a smaller pension building up in those final years, reflecting what a phased arrangement produces.

STEP 3 — MODEL PAUSED CONTRIBUTIONS IN A DC PENSION (Module 3)

If your phased arrangement means you’ll stop making pension contributions for a period, use the Career Break feature in Module 3.

1. Go to Module 3 — DC Pensions and open the relevant pot.
2. Enter a Career Break Start Age and End Age.

During a career break your pot continues to grow at the assumed rate — contributions pause but investment growth continues. If you’re still contributing but at a lower rate, update your salary and contribution percentages in Module 3 instead.

STEP 4 — ADD PART-TIME INCOME AS A BRIDGE (Module 8)

Part-time or consultancy income during a phased period is temporary, so it should not go in Module 6 — that module assumes income continues indefinitely. Instead, add it as a recurring event in Module 8.

1. Go to Module 8 — Life Events.
2. Add a Recurring Income event with an annual amount, start age, and end age (matching your Module 1 retirement age).

The planner includes this income only for those years, then removes it automatically.

CHECK YOUR RESULTS

Once all elements are in place, go to Module 10 — 25-Year Projection to see the full picture. You’ll see assets, income, and spending year by year — including the transition period. Module 7’s live sliders let you test adjustments in real time.

RetirePlan — retireplan.co.uk | Using 2026/27 UK tax rates | This tool provides guidance only and does not constitute regulated financial advice.

The Finance Planner doesn’t have a dedicated “care costs” field — and that’s intentional. Care needs vary enormously and are impossible to predict precisely, so the best approach is to build a financial cushion and then stress-test what a care scenario would actually look like. Here’s how to do both.

STEP 1 — BUILD A RESILIENCE BUFFER (Module 5)

A straightforward first step is to hold a higher savings balance than you think you’ll need for day-to-day spending. This buffer sits in your ISA or savings pot and is available if care costs arise.

1. Go to Module 5 — Savings & Investments.
2. Review your ISA and savings balances.
3. Consider whether you want to target a higher balance at retirement to give yourself a care contingency.

The Module 10 projection will show how long that buffer lasts alongside your other spending — giving you a clearer sense of how much cushion you actually have.

STEP 2 — MODEL A CARE SCENARIO (Module 8)

To see what a specific care cost would do to your plan, add it as a Life Event in Module 8. You can model it as a lump sum (e.g. a care home deposit or adaptation costs) or as a recurring annual cost from an assumed age.

To add a recurring care cost:

1. Go to Module 8 — Life Events.
2. Tap Add Life Event and choose Recurring Expense.
3. Enter an annual amount (residential care currently costs roughly £40,000–£70,000 per year depending on location and type of care).
4. Set a start age — for example age 80 or 85.
5. Leave the end age open, or set it to the end of the projection.

To add a one-off care cost:

1. In Module 8, choose One-Off Expense.
2. Enter the amount and the age at which you’d expect it to fall.

You can add multiple events to model different scenarios — for instance, a period of home care followed by residential care.

STEP 3 — CHECK THE IMPACT (Module 10)

Once your care scenario is in place, go to Module 10 — 25-Year Projection. The planner will show year by year how the additional costs affect your assets. If a pot runs negative, the planner flags it clearly and links back to the relevant module so you can adjust.

Use Module 7’s live sliders to quickly test what happens if you retire later, reduce spending, or increase your savings — without permanently changing your plan.

A NOTE ON CARE COST ESTIMATES

Care costs are highly variable and depend on location, type of care, and personal circumstances. The figures above are illustrative — for a more detailed picture, sources like Age UK and the Money and Pensions Service publish current average care cost guides. If care funding is a significant concern, a financial adviser who specialises in later-life planning can help you model your specific situation.

RetirePlan — retireplan.co.uk | Using 2026/27 UK tax rates | This tool provides guidance only and does not constitute regulated financial advice.

Named scenarios let you save a snapshot of your current plan under a name of your choosing — then load it back at any time to pick up exactly where you left off. It’s useful for comparing different strategies: for example, “Retire at 60” vs “Retire at 63”, or “With annuity” vs “Full drawdown”.

Scenarios are a Premium feature and sync to the cloud, so they’re available across all your devices.

HOW TO SAVE A SCENARIO

1. Set up your plan in the Finance Planner exactly as you want to snapshot it.
2. Tap the My Data menu at the top of any Finance Planner module.
3. Choose Save as scenario.
4. Give the scenario a name — something descriptive like “Retire at 62 — drawdown”.
5. Tap Save.

The snapshot is saved immediately to the cloud. You can save as many scenarios as you like — there’s no limit.

HOW TO LOAD A SCENARIO

1. Tap the My Data menu at the top of any Finance Planner module.
2. Choose Load a saved plan…
3. Select the scenario you want from the list.
4. Confirm you want to load it.

The planner loads the scenario and auto-save briefly pauses for a few seconds to prevent it from overwriting your main cloud plan with the scenario data. After that, any changes you make will save normally.

SCENARIOS AND YOUR MAIN PLAN

Scenarios are independent of your main cloud plan. Loading a scenario doesn’t permanently replace your main plan — your main plan remains in the cloud exactly as it was. To return to it, use My Data — Load from cloud.

Think of scenarios as separate “what if” workspaces you can switch between freely, with your main plan always waiting in the background.

IF YOU’RE ON THE FREE PLAN

Named cloud scenarios are available to Premium subscribers only. If you’re on the free plan, you can still save and restore your plan manually:

1. Tap the My Data menu and choose Backup to file to download your plan as a file.
2. To restore it later, use My Data — Restore from file and select the downloaded file.

You can save multiple backup files with different names to keep track of different versions of your plan.

To unlock named cloud scenarios and automatic multi-device sync, upgrade to Premium from the Account tab.

RetirePlan — retireplan.co.uk | This tool provides guidance only and does not constitute regulated financial advice.

Before you start — what to have handy  The Planner works best when you have a few key documents nearby. You won't need everything for every step, but having these ready will make things quicker.

✔    Your date of birth

✔    Your current salary (gross, before tax)

✔    Pension statements for any workplace pensions

✔    Annual Benefit Statements for any final salary schemes

✔    Your State Pension forecast (from gov.uk/check-state-pension)

✔    ISA and savings balances

✔    Rental income amounts (if applicable)

✔    A rough sense of the age you'd like to stop full-time work

YOUR 10-STEP JOURNEY AT A GLANCE

1 - Basics

2 - Spending

3 - DC Pension

4 - Final Salary

5 - Savings

6 - Other Income

7 - Results

8 - Life Events

9 - Drawdown

10 - Projection

Steps 1–6 — Your information

These six steps gather everything the planner needs to know about your finances. You move through them once — and can come back to update anything at any time.

Module 1  The Basics  [Required]

This step sets the foundations for everything else. You tell us your date of birth, the age you're aiming to stop full-time work, and a few key assumptions the plan will use — like an expected inflation rate and whether you're in Scotland or the rest of the UK (tax rates differ).

You'll also enter your State Pension estimate — we pre-fill the full 2026/27 figure of £12,547 a year, but if you've had gaps in your National Insurance record, you can adjust this to match the figure from your personal State Pension forecast.

WHAT TO HAVE READY

✔    Your date of birth

✔    Your target retirement age

✔    Your State Pension forecast (optional but useful — find it at gov.uk/check-state-pension)

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Module 2  Your Spending Target

This is where you set the lifestyle you're planning for. How much do you expect to spend each year once you've stopped full-time work? If you're not sure, you're not alone — this is the question most people find hardest.

To help, we include the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) benchmarks — a widely used set of figures that describe three levels of retirement living standard. They're a great starting point if you don't yet have a number in mind.

PLSA RETIREMENT LIVING STANDARDS 2025/26

The Moderate level covers things like a European holiday each year, a reasonably new car, and eating out regularly. The Comfortable level adds long-haul travel, a newer car every five years, and more financial flexibility. These are before housing costs — you'll add those separately.

If you prefer, you can enter a custom figure instead. You'll also add your housing situation here — whether you rent, have a mortgage (and when it'll be paid off), or own your home outright.

WHAT TO HAVE READY

✔    A rough annual spending figure — or simply choose a PLSA level as your starting point

✔    Your monthly rent or mortgage payment, if applicable

✔    The age your mortgage will be fully repaid

Module 3  Workplace & Personal Pensions

This step covers pensions where the value depends on how the investments have performed — the kind most people have through an employer today, or a SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension). These are sometimes called defined contribution or "DC" pensions.

You enter the current combined value of these pensions, whether you're still paying in (and how much), and how you'd like to take the money when the time comes — either drawing it down gradually or converting some or all of it into a guaranteed income for life.

How would you like to take your tax-free cash?

Most people are entitled to take up to 25% of their pension pot tax-free, subject to a lifetime cap of £268,275. The planner gives you three ways to use this:

✔    Full lump sum at retirement — take the full 25% as a one-off payment when you stop work. Simple and straightforward.

✔    Spread it over drawdown — instead of a lump sum, each annual withdrawal is automatically 25% tax-free until the cap is used up. This can be more tax-efficient if a large lump sum would push you into a higher tax band.

✔    Partial split — take a portion as a lump sum at retirement, with the remainder spread across your drawdown income. You choose the percentage.

Career breaks

If you've taken time out of work — or plan to — you can enter a career break here. During a break, your existing pot continues to grow but contributions pause. The planner adjusts your projected pot at retirement accordingly.

WHAT TO HAVE READY

✔    Your latest pension statement(s) showing the current fund value

✔    Your employee and employer contribution percentages

✔    Your current salary (if still contributing through an employer)

Module 4  Final Salary Pensions

If you have (or had) a job that came with a guaranteed pension linked to your salary and years of service — often called a final salary or defined benefit pension — this is where you enter it. These are common in the public sector and older employer schemes.

If you're still an active member, you'll enter your scheme's accrual rate (for example, 1/60th per year) and how many years you've built up so far. If you've left the scheme but have a preserved pension waiting for you, simply enter the annual amount shown on your Annual Benefit Statement — the planner takes it from there.

If you have a CARE (Career Average Revalued Earnings) scheme, use the deferred pension option and enter the projected figure from your Annual Benefit Statement.

WHAT TO HAVE READY

✔    Your Annual Benefit Statement from the scheme

✔    The accrual rate (e.g. 1/60th) — shown on your scheme documents

✔    Your years of service to date

Module 5  Savings & Investments

This covers money you hold outside of pensions — ISAs, stocks and shares accounts, and other savings. These often get overlooked in retirement planning, but they can play an important role, particularly in the early years before your pensions are fully in payment.

For each type of savings, you enter the current balance and how much you're adding each year. The planner projects these forward to your target retirement date, and factors them into the overall picture.

WHAT TO HAVE READY

✔    Current ISA balance

✔    Any stocks and shares or investment account balances

✔    Other savings balances

Module 6  Other Income

Not all income in later life comes from pensions. If you earn rental income from a property, receive dividends from shares, or expect any other regular income, add it here. You can add as many sources as you like.

The planner handles the different tax treatment for each type automatically — so rental income and dividends are calculated correctly alongside your pension income.

WHAT TO HAVE READY

✔    Annual rental income (if applicable)

✔    Dividend income (if applicable)

✔    Any other regular income you expect to continue into later life

Steps 7–10 — Your results

Once your information is in, the planner does the hard work. These four steps show you what it all means — your income at retirement, how to sequence your assets, and a full 25-year view of where your money goes.

Module 7  Your Results at Retirement  [Calculated for you]

This is the first moment everything comes together. The planner projects all your pensions and savings forward to your target retirement date and shows you your estimated income — broken down by source — alongside your estimated tax, and whether you're on track to cover your target spending.

A surplus means your projected income is expected to exceed your target spending. A shortfall shows you the gap to work with. You can use the live sliders on this screen to test "what if" scenarios instantly — adjusting your retirement age, drawdown rate, or spending target to see how the numbers change in real time.

Module 8  Life Events  [Your plans]

Retirement isn't one flat line of spending — it's full of bigger moments. A world cruise. Helping a child with a house deposit. A new car every few years. A kitchen renovation. This step lets you plan for all of them.

Add one-off or recurring expenses (and income, like an inheritance or a property sale) at specific ages, and they'll be woven into your 25-year projection. We include a library of common events with suggested amounts to make this quick — or you can add your own.

If you've used the Lifestyle Goals Planner, the goals you set there are automatically imported here as a starting point.

Module 9  Drawdown Strategy  [Calculated for you]

When you have multiple sources of money — a pension pot, savings, an ISA — the order in which you draw them down can make a meaningful difference to how long your money lasts and how much tax you pay.

The planner applies a sensible sequencing strategy automatically: pension drawdown first, then other savings as a buffer, with your ISA held back as a last resort. If you're retiring before your State Pension kicks in, your savings bridge the gap automatically until it starts. You can fine-tune the approach here if you want more control.

Module 10  25-Year Projection  [Your full picture]

The final step shows you the complete picture — a year-by-year view of your finances for 25 years into later life. You'll see how your assets grow or draw down, how your spending changes over time (the planner factors in that most people naturally spend less as they get older), and when your life events land.

Charts make the overall shape clear at a glance. The detailed table below lets you examine any individual year. If any pot is at risk of running out, the planner flags it clearly and points you back to the relevant step to adjust your plan. You can export the full table to a spreadsheet if you'd like to keep a copy or share it.

What you get at the end

Once you've completed all 10 steps, your plan gives you a comprehensive picture of your financial future in later life.

£  Your income, broken down

Pension, State Pension, savings, annuity, and other income — shown gross and after estimated tax.

✓  Surplus or shortfall

A clear answer to whether your plan covers the life you've described — and by how much.

↗  25-year cashflow projection

Year-by-year charts and a full table showing assets, income, spending, and life events.

⚠  Early-warning flags

Automatic alerts if any part of your plan looks stretched — with guidance on what to adjust.

Your progress is saved automatically. Every change you make is saved to your device as you go — no need to complete it in one sitting. You can return to any step at any time and update your figures as your situation changes. Premium members can also back up their plan to the cloud and access it across devices.

RetirePlan — retireplan.co.uk | Using 2026/27 UK tax rates | This tool provides guidance only and does not constitute regulated financial advice.

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The Two-Stage Journey

Stage 1: Define Your Vision (Lifestyle Goals Planner)

Discover your archetype, explore curated goals, and build your personal Lifestyle Blueprint. This is the dreaming stage - no numbers required, just possibilities.

Stage 2: Build Your Financial Plan (10-Module Planning Wizard)

Now it's time to translate your vision into practical numbers and see your complete 25-year retirement projection. The wizard takes you through 10 simple modules:

Modules 1-6: Your Financial Picture

These modules capture your current situation and retirement plans:

·       Core Assumptions: Your age, planned retirement date, and basic parameters

·       Lifestyle Baseline: How much annual income you'll need (using research-backed benchmarks or your own estimate)

·       DC Pensions: Your workplace and personal pension pots

·       DB Pensions: Any final salary or career average pensions

·       Savings & Investments: ISAs and other savings that will supplement your income

·       Other Income: Rental income, part-time work, or other sources

You can complete all these modules in one sitting, or return later - your progress saves automatically, even if you don't sign in.  We do recommend signing in however so that you can access your progress securely from any device.

Module 7: Your Position At Retirement

This is where it comes together. Based on everything you've entered, you'll see:

·       Your total assets at retirement (pensions, savings, investments)

·       Your projected annual income (from all sources)

·       Your target spending (from Module 2)

·       Whether you'll have a surplus or shortfall

Interactive sliders let you explore "what if" scenarios: what happens if you retire a year later? What if you increase your pension contributions? What if markets perform better or worse than expected?

Module 8: Life Events

Add the experiences and purchases you don't want to miss - bucket list trips, home improvements, helping family with house deposits. These one-off or recurring expenses show up in your projection so you can plan for them properly.

Module 9: Drawdown Sequencing

Configure how you'll draw on your assets during retirement. The calculator automatically applies a tax-efficient sequence (drawing from pensions, then taxable savings, then ISAs), but you can adjust the strategy to suit your preferences.

Module 10: Your 25-Year Projection

See your entire retirement mapped out, year by year. This detailed projection shows:

·       How your pension pots, ISAs, and savings evolve over 25 years

·       Your income and spending each year

·       When (and if) any assets run out

·       The impact of life events on your finances

The table view shows every detail; the charts give you the big picture at a glance. You can export everything to spreadsheet format for deeper analysis.

Important note: All financial figures are estimates based on multiple assumptions over many years. Projections are guidance, not guarantees, and should not be considered financial advice. Always consult a regulated financial adviser when you're unsure or contemplating significant changes to your arrangements.

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One of the most powerful ideas from James Clear’s Atomic Habits is the concept of identity-based change. Rather than focusing on outcomes (“I want to run a marathon”), you focus on the kind of person you want to become.

This starts with a simple phrase:

“I want to become someone who…”

Your archetype in the Goal Planner gives you a starting point for this identity. For example:

• Essentialist: “I want to become someone who protects my time and prioritises what matters.”

• Explorer: “I want to become someone who says yes to new experiences.”

• Architect: “I want to become someone who builds meaningful long-term achievements.”

• Deep-Root: “I want to become someone who shows up for my relationships.”

• Alchemist: “I want to become someone who expresses creativity every day.”

Identity works because it shifts your behaviour at the deepest level. Instead of forcing yourself to act differently, you begin acting in alignment with who you believe you are.

Why Identity Matters in the Goal Planner

When you choose goals or micro-habits, they reinforce a new identity one small step at a time:

• Every action is a vote for the person you’re becoming.

• Small wins make the identity feel real.

• Over time, your choices, routines, and lifestyle naturally shift to match your self-image.

This is why the Goal Planner doesn’t just ask what you want to do — it helps you become someone who naturally lives the way you aspire to.

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Micro-habits are small, easy actions you can complete in 1–3 minutes — tiny steps that build momentum without overwhelming you. Instead of aiming for big, dramatic changes, micro-habits help you make progress in the simplest possible way.

This idea comes from James Clear’s bestselling book Atomic Habits, which shows that meaningful change happens through small, consistent actions repeated over time. A micro-habit removes friction. It’s so easy you can’t talk yourself out of it.

Why We Use Micro-Habits

Micro-habits are built into the Goal Planner for three reasons:

• They create early wins. A tiny action done today is better than a grand plan postponed.

• They’re sustainable. You can repeat them almost every day without effort or motivation.

• They build identity. Every tiny habit reinforces the person you want to become.

Examples of Micro-Habits

• One minute of grounding breathing in the morning

• Writing one sentence in a journal

• Sending a single message to strengthen a relationship

• Tidying one small area instead of the whole room

Micro-habits lower the barrier to getting started — and once you start, momentum takes over.

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Overview

The Goal Planner helps you clarify what matters most and turn it into a simple, motivating lifestyle blueprint you can return to anytime. It takes just a couple of minutes to get started. You will then see a carefully selected set of goal suggestions tailored specifically to you, which you simply swipe left or right (tinder-style) to choose. When complete, you generate your 'Blueprint''.

When you are happy with the blueprint, your key goals are passed automatically to the Financial Planner, with suggested costs, so that you can incorporate them in your future plans, editing and adjusting however you wish.

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The Process

1. Take the 2-Minute Lifestyle Quiz

Begin with a short, intuitive quiz that identifies your personal Lifestyle Archetype — a snapshot of what energises you, how you make decisions, and the environments where you thrive. You will then be asked to select up to 5 'Key Focus' areas. This helps us tailor suggestions that align with who you really are and what is really important to you..

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2. Explore Curated Goal Suggestions

Once your archetype is revealed, you’ll see a hand-picked set of lifestyle goal suggestions which we think may be of interest to you. You can easily modify them to be more specific to your aspirations. Each one appears as a clean, swipeable card — simply swipe right to add it to your plan or swipe left to pass.

Goals you select can either be saved to your 'Action Plan' (goals you work on now) or your 'Vision Board' (longer term goals for the future). All selected goals can be edited and fine-tuned in the blueprint later.
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Think of it as a personalised goal gallery, built entirely around your values and preferences.

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3. Build Your Lifestyle Blueprint

Your swiped goals automatically create a Lifestyle Blueprint — a simple, visual plan split into two parts:

• Action Plan:     Practical goals you can begin now, each paired with a small, 2–5 minute micro-habit  to help you take consistent action without overwhelm.
      Example: “Volunteer reguarly” → Identify one cause close to your values and spend five minutes finding out how they accept help
• Vision Board:     Longer-term ideas and aspirations you want to keep in view for the future.  These goals inspire direction without the pressure of acting immediately.

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You can edit individual goals to suit your exact aims, including a custom goal card which is completely unique to you.

Your Vision Board goals are automatically passed to the Financial Planner with suggested costs that you can edit later.

4. Save, Print, and Revisit Anytime

You can save your blueprint, print it out, or return to it whenever you want. Your progress is always available, making it easy to refine your plan as your life evolves.

IMPORTANT - to save your Lifestyle Blueprint and access it from any device, just set up a  RetirePlan account for secure, encrypted cloud storage.

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