Future lump sums are now supported in the Retirement Planner
We have released a significant update to the Planiva Retirement Planner, focused on making retirement scenarios clearer, more realistic and easier to review.
The main change is support for future lump sums received.
This means you can now add expected one-off future receipts directly into your retirement scenario instead of working around them as current savings or recurring income.
Examples include:
- property sale proceeds;
- inheritance;
- DB pension lump sums;
- other expected one-off future receipts.
These amounts are added once at the selected age and are treated as future money received. They are not treated as current savings and they are not treated as recurring income.
Why this matters
Many retirement plans depend on events that happen later.
For example, someone may expect to sell a property, receive an inheritance, take a pension lump sum, or receive another one-off payment after retirement has already started.
Previously, these events were harder to model cleanly. Users could end up entering future money as today’s savings or as annual income, which could distort the projection.
The Retirement Planner now gives future lump sums their own place in the plan.
How future lump sums work
When adding a future lump sum, you can enter:
- the type of lump sum;
- the amount;
- the age it is expected to be received;
- the owner, where relevant.
Planiva then adds the lump sum once at the selected age.
Future lump sums are added to taxable savings and investments from that point in the projection.
They are assumed to be the amount available after any tax, fees, debt repayment or transaction costs. Planiva does not calculate those costs for you.
Available in the guided wizard
Future lump sums received are now also available in the guided Retirement Planner setup.
This helps you include important future receipts when first building your plan, rather than needing to add them later.
Clearer pension and asset inputs
This update also improves the way key retirement inputs are described.
We have clarified wording around:
- pension pot values;
- other annual retirement income;
- State Pension;
- ISA savings and investments;
- taxable savings and investments;
- future annuity income from a pension pot.
The aim is to reduce confusion between current balances, annual income amounts and future income streams.
Review checks
The Retirement Planner now includes clearer review checks.
These are non-blocking prompts that highlight assumptions or outputs that may deserve a second look.
For example, Planiva may remind you to review whether:
- a pension has been counted both as a pot and as annual income;
- State Pension has also been included in other annual retirement income;
- taxable savings and investments are being modelled using simplified assumptions;
- a future lump sum materially affects the projection.
These checks do not mean the scenario is wrong. They are there to help you review the assumptions behind the projection.
How the projection is calculated
The Retirement Planner now gives a clearer explanation of how each projection has been calculated.
The explanation covers areas such as:
- starting retirement resources;
- income included;
- spending assumptions;
- withdrawals and tax treatment;
- future lump sums;
- annuity conversion where relevant;
- the main assumptions driving the result.
This helps make the projection easier to understand without changing the underlying calculation.
Better reports
We have improved the Retirement Planner PDF report so it works better as a standalone planning document.
The report now includes:
- a clearer first-page summary;
- improved spacing and layout;
- clearer assumptions sections;
- review checks;
- a dedicated calculation explanation section;
- clearer planning notes and advice-boundary wording.
The report remains a planning output, not financial advice, but it should now be easier to save, review and compare.
Improved scenario comparison
Scenario comparison has also been improved.
The comparison keeps its existing layout, but now handles several items more clearly:
- identical values now show as “No change”;
- small non-zero movements may show as “Broadly unchanged”;
- Total Tax Paid remains a key comparison metric;
- average flexible withdrawals are treated as neutral by default;
- future lump sums received now appear in the existing comparison sections where relevant.
This helps you compare scenarios without turning the comparison into a recommendation.
What has not changed
Planiva remains a planning and modelling tool.
Planiva helps you test scenarios based on the assumptions you enter. It does not tell you what financial decision to make.
In summary
This update makes the Retirement Planner more practical for real-world retirement scenarios.
You can now include future lump sums received, review how they affect your projection, understand how the calculation has been built, and compare scenarios more clearly.
