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Where Your Next Pound Should Go
Answer the questions below and see which rung of the ladder you are actually on, what your next pound should do, and what each move is worth on your own numbers.
2026/27 tax year · worked out in your browser, nothing is sent anywhere
Gross salary, before anything comes off.
Scotland sets its own income tax bands.
It changes the rate on your next pound.
Rent or mortgage, bills, food, transport. Not holidays.
Easy access only. Not investments or pensions.
Cards, overdraft, car finance. Not your mortgage. Enter 0 if none.
The headline APR.
The most they will match, as a percentage of salary. Enter 0 if there is no match.
As a percentage of your salary.
Enter 0 if none. This drives the High Income Child Benefit Charge.
It decides whether a Lifetime ISA is open to you.
After essentials and any debt payments. A rough figure is fine.
What this does not know
It works from what you typed, so it cannot see a partner's income, a pension you already hold, a bonus, self-employment or property. Where it shows what money could become it uses a fixed assumed return and says so, because a projection dressed as a prediction is the most common way a tool like this misleads people. Treat it as a starting point that tells you which question to ask next.
Common questions
Is this financial advice?
No. It is general guidance. It shows what the UK tax rules for 2026/27 mean for the figures you enter and the order most people work through, and it never recommends a product, provider or fund. Giving personal investment advice in the UK is a regulated activity, and this tool is deliberately not doing it. For anything complex, speak to an FCA-regulated adviser.
How does it actually work?
It applies the UK tax rules for 2026/27 and a fixed decision ladder to the figures you enter, and every number is calculated in your own browser by the same tax engine behind every other calculator on this site. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and no large language model is involved, which is why the arithmetic cannot drift from the rest of the site and the same answers come out every time.
Why does the employer match sit alongside clearing debt rather than after it?
Because a match is usually a 50% or 100% instant return on your own money, which beats the interest rate on almost any consumer debt. The sensible thing is to contribute enough to capture the full match while you attack the debt, rather than turning down free money for a year or two.
Should I clear my student loan early?
Usually not, and the tool says so. It behaves like a tax on income above a threshold rather than a normal debt, it is written off after a set period, and overpaying only helps someone who would otherwise repay the whole balance. That is information about how the system works, not a recommendation about your case.
General information, not financial advice. This tool does not recommend products and cannot see your full circumstances.