Pension drawdown calculator - making your money last

How long will your money last in pension drawdown?

The ability to take income to suit your needs, combined with the possibility of your pot continuing to benefit from investment growth, has made pension drawdown a popular way for retirees to access their pension.

But unlike an annuity, which pays a fixed income for the rest of your life, there are no guarantees with drawdown - it's up to you to manage your investments and decide what is a sustainable level of withdrawals each year.

Our pension drawdown calculator helps you to get a better idea of how long your pension pot might last.

You can adjust your investment mix, how much annual income you want to take and your assumptions about investment returns to see what impact this has.

Calculator assumptions

The investment mixes are as follows:

• Cautious: 30% cash / 50% fixed interest / 20% stocks and shares
• Moderate: 10% cash / 40% fixed interest / 50% stocks and shares
• Adventurous: 5% cash / 25% fixed interest / 70% stocks and shares

The investment growth assumptions are as follows:

• Pessimistic: assumes that once you retire, your cash investment grows at an average of 0% a year, fixed interest at 4% a year and equities at 6.5% a year
• Middling (set as the default): assumes that once you retire, your cash investment grows at an average of 0.5% a year, fixed interest at 4.75% a year and equities at 7.25% a year
• Optimistic: assumes that once you retire, your cash investment grows at an average of 1% a year, fixed interest at 5.5% a year and equities at 8% a year