UK public-sector workers consistently undervalue their DB pensions by a factor of ten or more. This is one free tool that gives you the DC equivalent. Sonuswealth itself isn't a calculator - it's the live UK tax + estate engine that runs this and 47 other calculations against your actual numbers, every week, with everything joined up. This page is the free taster.
Index-linked DB pensions are worth dramatically more than they appear on paper. This calculator translates them using a 4% sustainable withdrawal rate - the rate most pension researchers use for index-linked equivalence over a 30-year retirement.
Tap a scheme to load a typical example, or enter your own numbers.
Method. 4% SWR (Trinity / Bengen) is the standard sustainable withdrawal rate for a 30-year retirement against a balanced portfolio. Index-linked DB pensions remove inflation risk entirely; the calculator applies a +25% premium for fully index-linked and +10% for capped index-linked to account for the guarantee. Pre-state-pension-age retirement extends the horizon; the calculator applies a small horizon adjustment. This is an estimator, not a financial recommendation. Sonuswealth's full engine handles scheme-specific accrual, commutation, lump sums, and survivor benefits.
UK pension statements show your "annual pension at normal retirement age" as a single five-figure number. Compared to a DC pot showing £200k, that small number feels like nothing. It isn't.
A £20k/yr index-linked DB pension over a 30-year retirement is worth ~£600k in DC equivalent - three to four times the median private-sector pot. NHS Band 7 nurses, TPS career teachers, and AFPS officers routinely retire with DB pensions worth over £1M in DC terms.
An index-linked pension grows with CPI every year - automatic. A DC pot has to grow real-terms after fees to keep pace. The DB pension does this for free, for 30 years.
If you live to 95, the DB pension still pays. The DC pot runs out. The cost of the longevity insurance built into DB is roughly 15-25% of the underlying capital - invisible on the statement, real in the maths.
A DC retiree who hits a bear market in year one of drawdown can lose decades. A DB pensioner is unaffected. This is one of the largest hidden risks in DC retirement.
NHS, TPS, AFPS, Police, Fire, and LGPS schemes are all guaranteed by the UK government balance sheet. They are not, in practical terms, at risk. Other DB schemes can transfer to commercial insurers - also typically very safe.
NHS Band 7. ~£30k/yr at 60 = ~£940k DC equivalent. Niamh was anxiously maxing a small SIPP. Once she saw the real number, she redirected the contributions to her children's Junior ISAs and her own ISA wrapper. Lower-effective-tax holding for the money, more flexibility.
TPS career teacher. £31k/yr index-linked from 60 + LGPS slice + small SIPP. Once Tom saw the equivalent value, he stopped over-contributing to AVCs and shifted into a flexible bridge fund. Retirement age moved from 65 to 58 in the new plan - bridged by ISA + drawdown until DB kicks in.
RAF flight lieutenant. AFPS 15 deferred + EDP. Sam was holding back on spending because retirement felt uncertain. Once the AFPS DC-equivalent was visible - well above his anxiety threshold - he reallocated saving to a JISA pot for the kids' university.
Sonuswealth models your DB pension alongside your DC pots, ISA, cash, mortgage, tax position, and 30-year cashflow - live, every Budget, in plain English. £9 a month, or £4.50 with NHS / public-sector pricing.