£800k pension pot: what income does it actually give you?
On our assumptions £800,000 clears the £31,300 the PLSA links to a moderate single-person retirement from age 50 onwards. Stop earlier than that and the same pot still works, but at a ‘minimum’ rather than ‘moderate’ standard of living.
£800,000 by retirement age
Every figure below is the highest income the pot can sustain while still lasting to age 95, net of tax and in today’s money. Pick an age for the year-by-year projection, the tax profile and the assumptions behind it.
Why the same pot pays so differently
The £5,800 a year between retiring at 50 and at 60 on an identical £800,000 comes from two things working together. The obvious one is duration: stopping at 50 means funding roughly 10 more years from the same money. The less obvious one matters more — the State Pension starts at 67 whatever you do, so retiring earlier means more years in which your pots are the only source of income, and those bridge years are the expensive ones.
There is a tax dimension too. In the bridge years a quarter of every SIPP withdrawal is tax-free and the taxable remainder largely sits inside the personal allowance and basic-rate band, so the effective rate is low. Once the State Pension arrives it absorbs most of the personal allowance on its own, and further SIPP income is taxable from the first pound. A pot of £800,000 drawn over a longer retirement therefore pays proportionally more tax as well as being spread more thinly.
Questions people ask
How much income will a £800,000 pension pot give me?
It depends far more on when you stop than most people expect. Retiring at 50, £800,000 supports about £37,400 a year sustainably to age 95. Wait until 60 and the same pot supports about £43,200 — roughly £5,800 a year more, for the same money, because it funds fewer years and bridges less time before the State Pension.
Is £800,000 enough to retire on?
Enough for a moderate retirement from age 50, on our model. Measured against the PLSA's £31,300 moderate benchmark for a single person, £800,000 clears it at 50 and above and falls short below that. It comfortably exceeds the PLSA minimum standard at every age shown.
Does the State Pension change the picture?
Substantially. The full new State Pension is about £11,502 a year in today's money from age 67. Before it starts, £800,000 carries your whole income; after it starts, it only has to top up the difference. That is why retiring later stretches the same pot so much further — there are fewer years to bridge.
Run your own numbers
This page uses one fixed set of assumptions. Your real plan has your pots, your State Pension record, DB pensions, rental income and one-off events. See it modelled year by year with a free annual check-up.
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