Can I retire at 67 in the UK?
67 is the current UK State Pension age. Retiring at exactly 67 is the simplest scenario in the planning landscape: there is no bridge to fund, the State Pension begins immediately, and the planning horizon is the shortest of the typical retirement ages.
The short answer
For a PLSA "moderate" retirement (£31,300 a year for a single person), the indicative pot at 67 is £450,000–£550,000 in today's money. For a "comfortable" lifestyle (~£43,000 a year), around £750,000–£850,000. For a couple targeting joint moderate (£43,000), the pot can be far smaller — roughly £300,000 jointly, since two State Pensions cover most of the bill.
Why 67 is the easiest age to plan for
At 67 the retirement immediately benefits from £11,500 a year of inflation-linked, government- backed income. That changes the planning question from "how do I fund my whole retirement" to "how do I top up the State Pension to my target spending". For most UK retirees, the gap to fill is between £20,000 and £30,000 a year — far easier to support than a full retirement income.
The 28-year planning horizon to age 95 is short enough that sustainable withdrawal rates can be closer to 4% with moderate confidence, rather than the 3.25–3.5% suggested for longer retirements.
The State Pension changes everything
The full new State Pension is currently around £11,500 per year (2024–25). This figure is index-linked under the "triple lock" (rises by the highest of CPI, average earnings growth, or 2.5% each April), which provides meaningful real-terms protection against inflation over a 25–30 year retirement.
For couples, two full State Pensions deliver £23,000 a year jointly. The PLSA "moderate" couples standard is £43,000 — so a couple needs investments to support roughly £20,000 a year between them. The 25× rule indicates a joint pot of around £400,000, lower than many people assume.
What can still go wrong
- Reduced State Pension. Not everyone qualifies for the full new State Pension. You need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions for the full rate; check your forecast on gov.uk.
- Sequence-of-returns risk. Even at 67, a poor first decade can damage the pot enough to threaten the longer end of retirement. Run Monte Carlo simulations.
- Longevity. A 67-year-old non-smoker today has a meaningful probability of living to 95 or beyond. Plan for at least 25 years of retirement, ideally 30.
- Care costs. Late-stage care costs are not modelled in standard retirement income figures. £30,000+ a year for in-home or residential care is realistic and should be considered as a tail risk.
A worked example
A 67-year-old single retiree with £500,000 (60% Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP), 40% Individual Savings Account (ISA)) plus the full State Pension. Drawing £8,000 a year from the ISA (tax-free) and £15,000 from the SIPP. Combined with the £11,500 State Pension, gross income is £34,500. Tax on the SIPP withdrawal above the personal allowance is around £2,886; net spending is roughly £31,600 — solid PLSA "moderate" lifestyle. Monte Carlo simulations on standard assumptions show ~92% probability of pot lasting to age 95.
Run your own numbers
67 is the simplest scenario but still benefits from explicit modelling — especially around the SIPP/ISA mix, the State Pension forecast, and Monte Carlo confidence levels.