I ran the numbers on my own retirement. I didn't sleep well.

I need £1.9 million. I'd assumed about £400,000. If you've got a pension you've never opened, your number is probably a lot bigger than you think too.

I'm Herschelle. I'm 41, I work a normal job, and I ignored my pension for eight years. So I built a calculator that works out your number on UK rules, pensions, ISAs, the real State Pension figure, current tax thresholds. Then I started working through the things nobody explains properly, and writing one down each week.

Free. No spam. Unsubscribe whenever.

What you get

The calculator. Straight away.

Your age, your income target, what you've got, it tells you what you need on the day you stop working, and whether the money lasts to 95. Built on actual UK rules: pensions, ISAs, the real State Pension figure, current tax thresholds. Not an American 401k spreadsheet.

One email a week.

One thing I've worked out, with the numbers shown. Last week: retiring at 60 means seven years with no State Pension, about £88,000 you fund entirely yourself. Nobody had told me that either.

What I'm not

I'm not an adviser. I don't sell anything. I'm not going to tell you what to buy, I'll show you the arithmetic and you can decide what it means for you.

I'm about fifteen minutes ahead of you on this, and I write it down.

Free. Unsubscribe whenever. Nothing here is financial advice.

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More From The Calculator

Know Your Number
  • What's my retirement number?
  • Am I behind on my pension?
  • How much should I have by 40?
  • The real cost of ignoring your pension
  • What £400k actually buys you at 67
State Pension
  • The State Pension gap nobody explains
  • Will the State Pension even be there?
  • Retiring before 67? Read this first
  • Check your National Insurance record
Pensions & ISAs
  • The pension you've never opened
  • Salary sacrifice, explained simply
  • Fees hiding in your pension statement
  • Pension vs ISA: which first?
  • Old workplace pensions, found and fixed
The Weekly Email
  • One thing I got wrong about retirement
  • I'm 15 minutes ahead of you on this
  • Read past issues
  • Get the calculator

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