# What every pension pot pays

> Find your pot, read across to the age you stop, and see the monthly income it supports in today's money, with a full State Pension from 67. Every figure comes from the same engine as our calculators.

**Question:** How much income does a pension pot pay in the UK?

**Answer:** From 60, each extra £100,000 in a pension supports about **£330 a month** to 95 in today's money, on top of a full State Pension from 67. So about **£113,000** reaches the Pensions UK minimum standard for one person, **£587,000** a moderate retirement and **£903,000** a comfortable one. Stop at 67 and moderate takes £431,000.

- Author: Adam Akhlaq, founder of MyRetireAge
- Published: 2026-10-29
- Updated: 2026-10-29
- Canonical URL: https://myretireage.com/blog/pension-pot-sizes-uk

## Key figures

- **£330 a month** - what each extra £100,000 adds, from 60
- **£113,000** - reaches the minimum standard from 60
- **£587,000** - reaches a moderate retirement from 60
- **£903,000** - reaches a comfortable one from 60

**Interactive: [How long will your own pot last?](https://myretireage.com/pension-drawdown-calculator-uk)** - Put in your own pot, the age you stop and what you spend, and see the age it runs out.

## What each pot pays from 60

Spread from 60 to 95, with a full State Pension from 67, every extra £100,000 in a pension supports about **£330 a month** in today's money. The bars show where each pot lands against the three Pensions UK standards for one person.

- £50,000: £638 a month from 60 (below the minimum)
- £80,000: £1,022 a month from 60 (below the minimum)
- £100,000: £1,105 a month from 60 (below the minimum)
- £150,000: £1,272 a month from 60 (minimum)
- £200,000: £1,438 a month from 60 (minimum)
- £250,000: £1,604 a month from 60 (minimum)
- £300,000: £1,770 a month from 60 (minimum)
- £400,000: £2,102 a month from 60 (minimum)
- £500,000: £2,435 a month from 60 (minimum)
- £600,000: £2,767 a month from 60 (moderate)
- £750,000: £3,266 a month from 60 (moderate)
- £1 million: £4,096 a month from 60 (comfortable)
- £1.2 million: £4,761 a month from 60 (comfortable)
- £1.5 million: £5,758 a month from 60 (comfortable)
- £2 million: £7,420 a month from 60 (comfortable)

The first £100,000 does less than that, because the State Pension is the same whatever you have saved. From 67 it pays £1,046 a month on its own, so £100,000 stopping at 60 supports £1,105 a month and the State Pension pays almost all of it from 67. A small pot mostly decides how the years before 67 go; a large one decides the years after as well.

## Ten pot sizes, ten different questions

At each size a different thing decides whether a pot is enough, so each guide is built around that one thing.

- **[£100,000: The State Pension is the plan](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-100000-enough-to-retire-uk)** - £1,105 a month from 60, and from 67 the State Pension pays £1,046 of it. The real question is whether to top it up or cash it in.
- **[£200,000: Three ways to turn it into a pension](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-200000-enough-to-retire-uk)** - £741 a month drawn down yourself from 65, £927 as an inflation-linked annuity, or £1,362 fixed, with the State Pension on top.
- **[£250,000: Past the minimum, short of moderate](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-250000-enough-to-retire-uk)** - £1,604 a month from 60: £454 over the minimum and £1,121 under moderate. Housing decides which side you land on.
- **[£300,000: One pot, two State Pensions](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-300000-enough-to-retire-uk)** - £2,544 a month from 60 for a couple, against £1,770 for one person. What sharing the bills is worth.
- **[£400,000: The age you stop decides it](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-400000-enough-to-retire-uk)** - With £400,000 on the day you stop: £623 a month short of moderate at 60, £120 short at 67. Have it at 60 and keep working, and it reaches moderate at 66.
- **[£500,000: The spend that never runs out](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-500000-enough-to-retire-uk)** - Spend £2,039 a month or less from 60 and it never empties. How that compares with the 4% rule, and what to cut after a bad year.
- **[£750,000: Slices or a lump sum? It's close](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-750000-enough-to-retire-uk)** - £3,266 a month from 60. Tax-free cash in slices or up front: use your personal allowance either way and the tax is about £2,000 apart.
- **[£1 million: The tax-free cap starts to bite](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-1-million-enough-to-retire-uk)** - Above £1,073,100 no more of a pot comes tax free: the lump sum allowance stops at £268,275. £1 million is £73,100 short, about 19 months of growth.
- **[£1.5 million: Inheritance tax from April 2027](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-1-5-million-enough-to-retire-uk)** - £5,758 a month from 60 spends it all by 95. From 6 April 2027 what you leave in a pension counts for inheritance tax. Spend it, or pass it on?
- **[£2 million: Retiring at 50, with ISAs as the bridge](https://myretireage.com/blog/is-2-million-enough-to-retire-uk)** - £6,178 a month from 50, with about £484,000 in ISAs to cover the 7 years until the pension opens at 57.

## Every pot at every age

Read across to the age you stop. Each figure is monthly spending from that age to 95, before tax, in today's money, with a full State Pension from 67.

| Pot | Stop at 55 | Stop at 57 | Stop at 60 | Stop at 65 | Stop at 67 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| £50,000 | £391 | £460 | £638 | £1,140 | £1,240 |
| £80,000 | £626 | £737 | £1,022 | £1,251 | £1,357 |
| £100,000 | £782 | £920 | £1,105 | £1,325 | £1,435 |
| £150,000 | £1,095 | £1,160 | £1,272 | £1,510 | £1,630 |
| £200,000 | £1,247 | £1,317 | £1,438 | £1,695 | £1,825 |
| £250,000 | £1,399 | £1,474 | £1,604 | £1,880 | £2,020 |
| £300,000 | £1,551 | £1,631 | £1,770 | £2,066 | £2,215 |
| £400,000 | £1,855 | £1,945 | £2,102 | £2,437 | £2,605 |
| £500,000 | £2,159 | £2,260 | £2,435 | £2,807 | £2,995 |
| £600,000 | £2,463 | £2,574 | £2,767 | £3,178 | £3,385 |
| £750,000 | £2,919 | £3,046 | £3,266 | £3,734 | £3,970 |
| £1 million | £3,678 | £3,831 | £4,096 | £4,660 | £4,945 |
| £1.2 million | £4,286 | £4,460 | £4,761 | £5,402 | £5,724 |
| £1.5 million | £5,198 | £5,403 | £5,758 | £6,513 | £6,895 |
| £2 million | £6,717 | £6,975 | £7,420 | £8,366 | £8,844 |
| £3 million | £9,756 | £10,118 | £10,742 | £12,073 | £12,743 |

57 is in the table because it becomes the earliest age you can draw most pensions on 6 April 2028. Stopping before then means living on ISAs or other savings until the pension opens.

## The pot each standard needs

Read the other way, about £113,000 reaches the minimum standard from 60, £587,000 a moderate retirement and £903,000 a comfortable one. Every year you work on makes each of them smaller.

*The pot that reaches each Pensions UK standard for one person, by the age you stop*

| Standard | Monthly cost | Stop at 55 | Stop at 60 | Stop at 65 | Stop at 67 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Minimum | £1,150 | £168,000 | £113,000 | £53,000 | £27,000 |
| Moderate | £2,725 | £686,000 | £587,000 | £478,000 | £431,000 |
| Comfortable | £3,775 | £1,032,000 | £903,000 | £761,000 | £700,000 |

*Rounded to the nearest £1,000. The standards assume you own your home outright; rent or a mortgage comes on top.*

Your own spending is a better target than any standard. [How much do you need to retire?](/blog/how-much-do-you-need-to-retire-uk) works through it from what you spend now.

## For a couple

A couple sharing one pot gets two State Pensions from 67, worth £25,095 a year together, so the same pot goes a good deal further.

*Monthly spending from 60 to 95, one person against a couple with two full State Pensions*

| Pot | One person | A couple | Couple standard reached |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| £100,000 | £1,105 | £1,277 | Below minimum |
| £250,000 | £1,604 | £2,377 | Minimum |
| £500,000 | £2,435 | £3,209 | Minimum |
| £750,000 | £3,266 | £4,039 | Moderate |
| £1 million | £4,096 | £4,870 | Moderate |

*Against the couple standards: minimum £1,875, moderate £3,775, comfortable £5,225 a month.*

## How every figure here is worked out

These are the assumptions every pot-size guide shares. Each guide shows what changes when one of them moves.

1. **Balanced growth, after fees and inflation** - A 5% return before inflation, 2.5% inflation and 0.4% fees, so every figure is in today's money.
2. **A full State Pension from 67** - £241 a week, or £12,548 a year, in 2026/27, rising with prices. A smaller forecast lowers every figure from 67.
3. **Spent by 95** - The pot is drawn evenly so the last pound goes around your 95th birthday. Planning to 100 lowers each figure a little.
4. **Before tax** - Each figure is what you spend before income tax. Each guide works out the tax at its own size.
5. **One person, unless it says a couple** - A couple's figure adds a second full State Pension from the same age.
6. **The Pensions UK standards** - Minimum £1,150, moderate £2,725 and comfortable £3,775 a month for one person, with no rent or mortgage.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much income does £100,000 in a pension give?

About £1,105 a month from 60 to 95 in today's money, including a full State Pension from 67, or £1,435 a month if you stop at 67. Bought as an annuity at 65, the best level rate on the market on 8 October 2026 paid £8,172 a year for life.

### How big a pension pot do I need for a moderate retirement?

About £587,000 for one person stopping at 60, or £431,000 stopping at 67, with a full State Pension and no rent or mortgage. That buys the Pensions UK moderate standard of £2,725 a month.

### How much does each £100,000 add to a pension income?

About £330 a month from 60 to 95, or £390 a month from 67, in today's money on balanced growth.

### Do these figures include the State Pension?

Yes. Every figure is total monthly spending with a full State Pension of £1,046 a month from 67. If your forecast is lower, the figures from 67 drop by the difference.

## Sources

- [The new State Pension: what you'll get](https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/what-youll-get) - GOV.UK
- [Check your State Pension forecast](https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension) - GOV.UK
- [Retirement Living Standards](https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/) - Pensions UK (formerly the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association)
- [Best annuity rates](https://www.hl.co.uk/retirement/annuities/best-buy-rates) - Hargreaves Lansdown

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This article is guidance, not financial advice. Every figure is produced by the same engine that powers our free calculators, stated in today's money on the assumptions named above, and checked against 2026/27 rates. Your own position will differ - if a decision this size is close, speak to a regulated financial adviser.