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CRP® · Money Wise UK

Natural Income
Retirement Planner

Model how your retirement portfolio can pay you an income — using dividends and fund distributions first, before selling any investments.

Illustrative only · Not financial advice · All calculations run in your browser
1Your situation
2Your buckets
3Your results
4Stress test
Tell us about your situation
We need a few basic details to model your retirement income. All figures are illustrative — the tool shows what's possible, not what's guaranteed.
Your income
Think about what you spend today — most people need 60–80% of their working income in retirement.
State pension is currently around £11,500/yr. Add any other guaranteed income here.
Your pot & timeline
The total amount you plan to invest across all three buckets.
Used to show your projected age in the results table.
Most planners use 25–30 years from retirement.
How much your income target rises each year. 2.5–3% is typical.
Set up your three buckets
The natural income strategy splits your money into three buckets — each with a different job. Income is collected from all three first; investments are only sold when there's a shortfall.
How it works: Each year, your portfolio pays distributions (dividends and interest) into your income pot. If that income covers your shortfall, nothing is sold. If it doesn't quite reach your target, a small amount is sold from Bucket 1 first — keeping your growth assets intact for longer.
Allocation — must total 100%
● Bucket 1 20% ● Bucket 2 50% ● Bucket 3 30%
⚠ Allocations must total 100% before running.

🟢 Bucket 1 — Liquidity

Cash or short-term bonds. Your immediate income reserve.
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🔵 Bucket 2 — Lifestyle

Multi-asset income fund. The engine of your natural income.
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🟤 Bucket 3 — Longevity

Equity income fund. Long-term growth for later years.
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Your natural income plan
Here's how your retirement income looks over the next 25 years — based on the assumptions you entered.
Portfolio value over time
How each bucket grows (or shrinks) over the projection period. A healthy plan keeps Bucket 3 growing throughout.
Where your income comes from each year
Green = paid from natural distributions. Amber = paid by selling units. The more green, the better the natural income strategy is working.
Year-by-year detail
YearAge Income need Guaranteed Natural income Units sold Bucket 1 Bucket 2 Bucket 3 Total pot Status
How does your plan hold up?
Stress testing shows what happens to your income plan under difficult conditions — a market crash, high inflation, or many more years than expected.
Choose a scenario
Base case vs stress scenario
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Ready to turn this into a real plan?
This tool gives you a powerful picture of how natural income retirement planning could work for you. But a good financial planner can turn that picture into a proper, regulated plan — built around your exact circumstances, tax position, and goals.
How this tool works — assumptions & methodology
Unit-based income model
Natural income is modelled on a unit basis — not as a percentage of current fund value. Your Year 1 income is locked in at outset (your starting pot × yield rate). That income then grows each year by your distribution growth rate, reflecting rising dividends per unit. Capital growth increases your pot's value but does not inflate income. This is how income funds actually work in practice.
The five-step annual process
1. Collect natural income from all three buckets. 2. Apply capital growth to each bucket. 3. If income falls short, sell units — from Bucket 1 first, then 2, then 3. 4. If Bucket 1 drops below your refill trigger, top it up from Bucket 2 (then 3). 5. If Bucket 2 drops below its trigger, top it up from Bucket 3.
What's included
Income escalation with inflation each year. Guaranteed income (state pension etc.) also escalates. Distribution growth modelled independently per bucket. Capital growth modelled per bucket. Bucket refill triggers to prevent Bucket 1 or 2 draining to zero. Five stress scenarios including market crash, high inflation, and longevity.
What's not included
Tax on income or withdrawals. Investment charges and platform fees (reduce growth assumptions to account for these). Sequencing risk beyond the stress scenarios shown. Changes in guaranteed income over time. Inheritance tax or estate planning. This tool models one scenario at a time — a financial planner will model many.
Default assumptions
Bucket 1 (Liquidity): 3.5% yield, 0% distribution growth, 0.5% capital growth. Bucket 2 (Lifestyle): 4.5% yield, 2% distribution growth, 2.5% capital growth. Bucket 3 (Longevity): 3.5% yield, 3% distribution growth, 4% capital growth. These are illustrative starting points — change them to reflect your actual portfolio.
Data & privacy
All calculations run entirely in your browser. No data you enter is stored, transmitted, or shared. The tool has no server — it is a single HTML file. Nothing you enter here is seen by Money Wise UK or anyone else.
Important: This tool is for illustrative and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice or a personal recommendation. Investment values can fall as well as rise, and you may not get back the amount you invest. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Income distributions from investment funds may be reduced or suspended. The projections shown are based on the assumptions you enter — actual outcomes will differ. Inflation, investment returns and distribution growth are not guaranteed. If you are unsure about your retirement planning, please seek advice from a suitably qualified and regulated financial adviser. Find a financial adviser at unbiased.co.uk.

Natural Income CRP® Bucketing Tool · Money Wise UK® · CRP® is a registered trademark of Money Wise UK · money-wise.uk
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