A few days ago I got an email from a retired reader. He'd been recommended WealthR by ChatGPT, signed up, and dutifully entered his data. Then he wrote in to tell me what didn't work:
- His income was a couple of DB pensions and 5% withdrawals from an investment bond. There was nowhere obvious to put them, so he'd lumped them into the "Salary" field — and the tax calculator was deducting National Insurance from his retirement income (which doesn't happen in real life).
- His State Pension was still a year or two away. He couldn't tell whether the Forecast was including that future income or not.
- He couldn't find a way to track income from ISAs, his SIPP, his GIA, his State Pension. Just the underlying capital.
He'd built this list politely. The polite version of "your retirement features don't really exist."
He was right. WealthR had been built — and written about, and marketed — for people climbing toward retirement. The whole shape of the app assumed contributions going in, a pot growing, a FIRE date in the future. He, like a huge number of UK self-directed investors, was already there. His pot was the thing now. The question was how it stretched, not how it grew.
So I spent this week rebuilding the retirement side. This post is what's now live, and why each bit matters if you're tracking your own retirement income in the UK.
What a UK retirement income tracker actually needs to do
If you're retired and trying to monitor your own situation between £200-an-hour adviser appointments, here's what the tool has to handle properly:
- Multiple income streams, not one "salary". A typical UK retiree has three or four sources running simultaneously: a State Pension, one or more DB pensions, drawdown from a SIPP, ISA withdrawals, maybe a bit of GIA dividend income, maybe a rental, maybe a bond.
- Different tax treatment per stream. A DB pension and ISA withdrawal hit your pocket the same way, but tax-wise they're a world apart. Get this wrong and the take-home figure is nonsense.
- No National Insurance. Once you're past State Pension age, NI isn't applied to retirement income. Generic tax calculators built around the salary model deduct it anyway, quietly overstating your tax bill.
- Future-dated income. If your State Pension starts in 2027, the forecast needs to know — and your portfolio runway needs to reflect that bump.
- A runway figure. "Will my money last?" is the actual question. Net income, spending, growth, current pot — those numbers need to combine into a single answer expressed in years.
None of the standard UK money tools do this cleanly. Bank-built calculators tend to focus on one product. Independent FIRE calculators are accumulator-shaped. Adviser cashflow planners are excellent but cost £150–£300 per session to access. There's a real gap.
What's now live in WealthR
One toggle, three integrations. Let me walk through each.
The "I'm retired" toggle
Lives on the Pension tab, in a new section called Retirement income. Flip it on and three things change across the app:
- A dedicated Retirement income section appears on the Pension tab where you can add as many income streams as you like.
- The Tax tab gains a "Retirement income tax" panel at the top, sourced from those streams, with NI removed and per-stream tax treatments applied correctly.
- The Forecast tab gains a cashflow overlay showing your net income, spending, and a portfolio runway stat.
If you're semi-retired and still doing some consulting on the side, the salary input on the Tax tab stays accessible — your retirement income calc and your earned income calc just sit alongside each other. Most users will keep "I'm retired" toggled on permanently. Some will toggle it on at retirement.
The eleven stream types
Every UK retirement income stream worth tracking has its own type, with the correct tax treatment baked in. Here's the full list, with how the calculator handles each:
| Stream type | UK tax treatment (auto-applied) |
|---|---|
| 🏛️ State Pension | Taxable as earned income, no NI. Start date respected. Auto-fills from your NI qualifying years. |
| 🏦 DB / final-salary pension | Taxable as earned income, no NI. Add one stream per scheme. |
| 💼 SIPP / DC drawdown | 25% tax-free, 75% taxed as earned income. Adjust if you took the full 25% TFC upfront and the rest is now 100% taxable. |
| 📜 Annuity | Taxable as earned income, no NI. |
| 🌊 Offshore bond 5% withdrawal | Tax-deferred — doesn't appear in this year's bill. Tax is settled later on a chargeable event with top-slicing relief. |
| 💚 ISA withdrawal | Entirely tax-free. Doesn't use any allowances. |
| 💵 GIA dividends | £500 allowance (2026/27), then 8.75% / 33.75% / 39.35% by band. |
| 💰 GIA / savings interest | Personal Savings Allowance (£1,000 / £500 / £0), then marginal rate. |
| 🏠 Rental income | Property income at marginal rate (enter the figure after deductible expenses). |
| ⚙️ Other taxable / ✨ Other tax-free | Anything else — consulting, freelance, gifts, premium bond wins. |
Each stream takes an amount, a frequency (monthly or annual), an optional start date, and an optional end date. The start date matters: State Pensions, fixed-term annuities, deferred DB schemes all have specific dates they kick in or stop.
The tax breakdown
When retired mode is on, the Tax tab shows a panel with your gross annual income, total tax, net take-home and effective tax rate, then breaks the tax down by source:
- Income tax on earned income — DB + State Pension + 75% of SIPP drawdown + annuity + rental + other taxable, against personal allowance and income tax bands. England/Wales/NI or Scotland.
- Savings tax — interest above your Personal Savings Allowance, taxed at your marginal income tax rate.
- Dividend tax — dividends above your £500 allowance, taxed at dividend rates.
The personal allowance tapers correctly above £100,000 of adjusted net income. NI doesn't appear anywhere. The marginal rate is shown alongside the headline numbers so you can see what your next £1 of income will cost you.
National Insurance is a tax on earned income for working-age people. Once you reach State Pension age (currently 66, rising to 67 from 2028), you stop paying employee NI even on a salary if you're still working. And critically: NI is never applied to pension income — DB, State Pension, annuity, drawdown — at any age.
Standard tax calculators that ask for "Salary" and apply NI on top will overstate a retiree's tax bill by 8% on the bit between £12,570 and £50,270 (roughly £3,000 a year for someone on a £45k retirement income). It's an easy mistake to make, and one of the biggest sources of confusion for people in their first year retired.
The portfolio runway
This is the one people actually open the app to see. On the Forecast tab, when retired mode is on, a new panel shows:
- Net income (after tax) — what's actually arriving in your bank each month
- Annual spending — set on the Pension tab once
- Net cash position — surplus or drawdown, colour-coded
- Portfolio runway — how many years your invested pot lasts at the current burn rate, given your growth assumption
If your income covers your spending, the runway shows as indefinite (the pot grows). If you're drawing down at, say, £8,000 a year against a £400,000 pot with 5% growth, it tells you the pot survives well beyond 60 years — which is shorthand for "indefinite at this draw rate."
If you're drawing down hard — say £30,000 a year of net burn on a £400,000 pot — the runway will be tight, and the number turns red. That's the moment to either trim spending, find more income, or have the conversation with an adviser about drawdown strategy.
Future-dated income streams (your State Pension at 67, a deferred annuity, a maturing bond) are listed below the runway figure as "upcoming income" with the dates they kick in. So you can see the inflection point coming.
The FIRE tab adjustment
The FIRE Number Calculator already understood capital. With retired mode on, it now also understands guaranteed income. A small panel at the top of the FIRE tab calculates the "equivalent invested pot" your guaranteed income represents at your chosen safe withdrawal rate.
Example: if your guaranteed income (DB + State Pension + annuity, at full activation) is £30,000/year and your SWR is 4%, that's equivalent to £750,000 of invested capital working alongside whatever's actually in your investment accounts. It's why someone with a generous final-salary scheme needs a much smaller invested pot than a pure DC saver.
How this compares to other UK tools
Honest comparison, no marketing-speak. These are the things I checked when designing it.
| Tool | Multi-stream tracking | Correct per-stream UK tax | Portfolio runway | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WealthR | Yes — 11 stream types | Yes — including no NI, dividend/PSA sub-calcs, taper | Yes | Yes |
| MoneyHelper retirement planner | Limited | Generic | No | Yes |
| Big platform calculators (HL / Vanguard / AJ Bell) | Single-product | Product-specific only | No | Yes |
| Adviser cashflow planner (Voyant, Cashcalc) | Full | Full | Yes | No — IFA-only |
| Spreadsheet you built in 2017 | Depends | Was right in 2017 | Depends | Free + your time |
The gap that mattered to me when building this was the row between "free but generic" and "full but adviser-only". Self-directed UK retirees need something with proper UK rules baked in, that they can run themselves, that doesn't make them sit through a sales call. WealthR is now that thing.
UK retirement income numbers worth memorising for 2026/27
- Personal allowance: £12,570 (tapers above £100k of adjusted net income)
- State Pension (new full): £230.25/week = £11,973/year (2025/26 figure; uprated each April)
- State Pension age: 66, rising to 67 from 6 April 2028
- Dividend allowance: £500
- Personal Savings Allowance: £1,000 basic rate, £500 higher, £0 additional
- SIPP / DC pension access age: 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028
- Pension Tax-Free Cash: 25% of the pot (or 25% of the Lump Sum Allowance of £268,275)
- Offshore bond 5% rule: up to 5%/yr of original capital, cumulative, tax-deferred for 20 years
- Inheritance tax on pensions: from 6 April 2027, most unused pension pots fall inside the deceased's estate. Beneficiaries who draw after age 75 pay income tax on top — potentially 64–67% effective tax. See the IHT on Pensions Calculator.
Always cross-check with gov.uk — figures change each year in the Spring and Autumn Statements.
Worked example — what the numbers actually look like
Here's a realistic shape for a UK retiree in their early to mid sixties. Two DB pensions paying a combined £15,000/year, plus 5% annual withdrawals from an investment bond — say £10,000/year on a £200,000 original investment. State Pension is still around a year away, at roughly £12,000/year once it starts. Annual spending: £25,000. Total invested pot (ISA, GIA, residual cash): around £400,000.
Plug those streams into the retirement income module:
- Today (State Pension not yet started): Active streams = £15,000 DB + £10,000 bond = £25,000 gross. Of that, £15,000 is taxable; £10,000 is tax-deferred. Income tax on the £15,000: roughly £486 (£12,570 personal allowance + 20% on the £2,430 remainder). Net take-home: £24,514. Annual spending £25,000. Net cash position: −£486/year — a fractional draw on the pot, completely negligible against £400k of growth.
- Once State Pension activates (around 12 months later): Active streams = £15,000 DB + £10,000 bond + £12,000 State Pension = £37,000 gross. Taxable earned income jumps to £27,000, tax rises to about £2,886. Net take-home: £34,114. Annual spending £25,000. Net cash position: +£9,114/year — pot grows comfortably from this point on.
- Portfolio runway: in the pre-State-Pension period the draw is tiny relative to growth, so the runway shows as indefinite. Once the State Pension kicks in, the pot stops being touched at all.
That's a fundamentally different picture from "you're drawing £25k a year from £400k". The income streams change the maths entirely. Most retirees never see it laid out that cleanly — that's the whole point of the module.
Track your retirement income free
Add your DB pensions, State Pension, SIPP drawdown, ISA withdrawals and GIA income. The right UK tax treatment baked into each. No signup, no bank linking.
Open WealthR →FAQ — UK retirement income tracking
What is the best free UK retirement income tracker in 2026?
WealthR is purpose-built for UK decumulation — track DB pensions, State Pension, SIPP drawdown, ISA withdrawals, GIA dividends and offshore bonds in one place, with the correct UK tax treatment baked into each stream. No NI is applied to retirement income (correctly), and the Tax tab shows your full annual tax bill across all sources. Free, no signup.
How do I track multiple DB pensions in one place?
Open the Pension tab, scroll to "Retirement income", flip the "I'm retired" toggle, and add one DB pension stream per scheme. WealthR sums them, applies your personal allowance once, and runs the income tax bands across the total. No more triple-counting personal allowances.
Does WealthR include the State Pension in retirement forecasts?
Yes. The State Pension stream type has an optional start date — set it to your State Pension age. The amount auto-fills from your NI qualifying years if you've entered them in the Pension tab. Until the start date, the income is listed as "upcoming" on the Forecast tab. From the start date, it counts toward your net cash position and portfolio runway.
How does the offshore bond 5% withdrawal rule work in the tax calculator?
Under HMRC's 5% rule, up to 5% of the original capital invested in an onshore or offshore bond can be withdrawn each year tax-deferred for 20 years. WealthR treats these withdrawals as tax-deferred — they don't appear in your current-year tax bill. The eventual chargeable event (full encashment, death of the policyholder) is settled with top-slicing relief. Full top-slicing modelling is on the roadmap.
Will WealthR tell me how long my retirement pot will last?
Yes. Once you've enabled retired mode and added your income streams and annual spending, the Forecast tab shows a portfolio runway stat: how many years your invested pot lasts at your current burn rate, given your growth assumption. If your income covers your spending, the runway shows as indefinite. If you're drawing down, it shows the number of years until depletion, colour-coded by stress level.
Do I pay National Insurance on UK retirement income?
No. NI is not deducted from DB pensions, State Pension, annuities or SIPP drawdown — at any age. Many generic tax calculators get this wrong by lumping retirement income into a salary input and applying NI on top. WealthR's retired mode removes NI from the tax calc entirely, producing an accurate net take-home figure.
How are GIA dividends and savings interest taxed in retirement?
Dividends in a General Investment Account get a £500 allowance (2026/27), then 8.75% / 33.75% / 39.35% by band. Savings interest gets a Personal Savings Allowance of £1,000 (basic), £500 (higher), £0 (additional) — above that, your marginal income tax rate. WealthR's retired-mode tax engine applies these correctly per stream, stacked on top of your earned income to determine which band each falls into.
Is WealthR a replacement for a financial adviser?
No. WealthR tracks the numbers — it doesn't give advice. It's well-suited to self-directed retirees who want to monitor their own situation between adviser reviews. For complex decisions (drawdown strategy, tax-efficient withdrawal ordering, IHT planning, pension consolidation, annuity vs drawdown), speak to a qualified independent financial adviser. WealthR Pro includes an adviser share link so you can send your IFA a read-only snapshot before a meeting — saves them time, saves you a chunk of the bill. See the related post When do you actually need a financial adviser?
The honest summary
This module exists because a reader emailed me. Before that, WealthR's retirement story was thin. Now it's not. If you're a self-directed UK retiree — or you're approaching retirement and want to model what life looks like on the other side — there's a real tool here, free, with the right UK rules baked in.
If something doesn't work the way you'd expect, please email me. The retirement module is brand new, the tax engine is being stress-tested in the wild, and I'd rather hear from you than have you quietly close the tab.
And thank you to the reader who wrote in — the email was excellent, the diagnosis was correct, and the app is meaningfully better because of it.
⚖️ Disclaimer: Nothing in this post constitutes financial advice. All content is for informational and educational purposes only. UK tax rules and allowances change — always cross-check current figures with gov.uk before making decisions, and consult a qualified financial adviser where appropriate.