Pension pot projection calculator, 2026/27
As a director you often set your own pension contributions rather than relying on an employer scheme. Enter your current pot, monthly contribution and years to retirement to see a compound growth projection, including the government tax relief added on top of what you actually pay in.
The pension pot projection calculator runs on the rates and thresholds HMRC has published for the 2026/27 tax year, so the figures you see reflect the position your company is actually filing on rather than a historic set of bands. Change any input and the result recalculates immediately, with no sign-up and nothing sent anywhere.
If you are a director of a UK limited company, use it as a first look before a decision rather than as the decision itself. Basic-rate relief at source of 20.0% is added to every net contribution shown. Real company positions bring in other income, reliefs, group structures and prior year adjustments that a single page of inputs cannot see, which is why the workings are written out below under pensions. Read those, then check the numbers against your own accounts, and speak to us if anything looks materially different from what you expected.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026 for the 2026/27 tax year. Reviewed by Waqas Sagar, Member of ICAEW, Fellow of ACCA, Fellow of AAT.
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Result, 2026/27
Projected pot at retirement
Total gross contributions paid in
Monthly basic-rate tax relief added
Assumes relief at source at 20%.Estimated investment growth over the term
Illustration only, figures are based on the rates you have selected and the information entered. Please check your own position with us before acting.
Estimates for the 2026/27 tax year using published GOV.UK rates. Switch between 2026/27 and 2025/26 above.
How this is calculated
Each net contribution you pay is grossed up for basic-rate relief at source, currently 20.0%, so a £500 net contribution becomes £625.00 in the pot before any investment growth. The projection then compounds this gross monthly contribution alongside your starting pot at the annual growth rate you select, applied monthly.
This is a straight-line compounding model: it does not model variable market returns, contribution increases in line with salary, or the effect of charges deducted by your pension provider, all of which will move the real-world answer.
Higher and additional rate taxpayers claim further relief through self-assessment, which is not reflected in the gross-up shown here and would increase the effective contribution further still.
Contributing through your limited company
Many directors find employer pension contributions from the company more tax-efficient than paying personally, because employer contributions are usually an allowable expense against corporation tax and avoid both employee and employer National Insurance entirely, unlike salary.
The annual allowance still limits how much can go in with full tax relief each year, and unused allowance from the previous three tax years can sometimes be carried forward if you were a member of a registered pension scheme in those years.
Using the projection sensibly
Small changes in the assumed growth rate compound into large differences over a 20 or 30 year term, so it is worth running this calculator at a few different growth assumptions rather than trusting a single number.
Review your pot and contribution rate at least annually, particularly around your company's year end when deciding how much employer contribution to pay before the accounting period closes.
What this means for your company
Treat the result as a planning figure for the 2026/27 tax year. If it changes what you were about to do, take a director's salary, a dividend, a large asset purchase or a filing decision, check it against your own accounts first. We can review the position with you and confirm the tax treatment before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Does this include employer contributions from my company?
Not directly. It grosses up your monthly figure for basic-rate relief on a personal contribution. If your company pays into your pension instead, enter the gross employer amount as the monthly contribution and treat the relief line as not applicable.
What growth rate should I assume?
There is no right answer; many use somewhere between 3% and 7% depending on the underlying fund mix. Running the calculator at both a cautious and an optimistic rate gives you a realistic range rather than false precision.
Does this account for the annual allowance?
No, this calculator only projects growth. Use the Pension Annual Allowance Calculator alongside this one to check your contributions stay within the £60,000 standard annual allowance for 2026/27.
Can I model taking money out before the end of the term?
No, this tool assumes no withdrawals until the end of the term entered. For drawdown modelling once you start taking an income, use the Pension Drawdown Calculator instead.
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