Hi. I'm the broke unicorn.
Just a gay who grew up poor, trying to set my family up for financial stability. Nobody sat me down and explained pensions, ISAs or why you need a will. So I'm working it out, doing the maths out loud, and making the tools I wish I'd had.
I'm not a financial adviser and I'm not going to pretend to be one. This is the friend who's read all the boring stuff so you don't have to.
How the Unicorn Calculator works
- Your Unicorn Number = your yearly spending in your unicorn era ÷ your safe withdrawal rate. At the classic 4%, that's yearly spend × 25.
- Lifestyle scales your current spending: Cosy is 80%, Same energy is 100%, Bougie is 130%.
- Tax: ISA money comes out tax-free. If you untick "My money's in ISAs", we assume about 15% of what you take out goes on tax (a pension where 25% is tax-free and the rest is taxed at 20%), so your Unicorn Number is bigger.
- Growth is the yearly return on top of inflation (3%, 4.5% or 6%). We assume 2.5% inflation, and your monthly saving rises with inflation too, so everything stays in today's money.
- We grow your pot month by month until it reaches the number. The age you get there is rounded up to the next birthday.
- Not included: the State Pension, investment fees, or life being messy. Leaving out the State Pension makes it cautious; leaving out fees makes it a bit optimistic.
How the Pot Planner works
- Your money sits in up to three pots: an ISA (open any time), a pension (locked until 57) and the State Pension.
- Before 57 you live off your ISA. From 57 we take from your pension first (losing about 15% to tax), then your ISA. From State Pension age, the State Pension covers part of your spending.
- The State Pension is £241.30 a week (£12,548 a year) in full from April 2026, and we assume it rises 2.5% a year, the same as inflation.
- We find the earliest age you could stop where your money lasts past 100, and warn you if you'd get stuck in the gap before 57.
The UK bits
- Private pensions can be accessed from 55 now, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028. If you want to stop earlier, you need money outside pensions (like ISAs) to cover the gap.
- The State Pension age is rising from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028. Under current law it rises to 68 between 2044 and 2046, which affects anyone born from 6 April 1977. This is under review.
- The 4% rule comes from US research on 30-year retirements. Stopping young means a longer retirement, so many UK planners use 3–3.5% to be safer. You can change it in the calculator's "Nerd settings".
Your privacy
The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us or stored anywhere. When you share your result, your numbers are put in the link itself (after the #) — so only share it with people you're happy to show.
How this site makes money
Right now? It doesn't. If that changes, it'll be through clearly labelled affiliate links (#ad) or a spreadsheet you can buy. The calculator stays free forever, with no ads on it. I'll never tell you which specific investment to buy.
The serious bit
Not financial advice — just maths and vibes. Everything here is general information for education. Investments can go down as well as up, and you could get back less than you put in. For help with your own situation, talk to a regulated financial adviser or the free, government-backed MoneyHelper.