ISA-to-Pension Bridge: Retire Before 57 in the UK
You hit your FI number at 45 and your pension is locked until 57. Twelve years to fund without touching the pot. The wrapper most UK FIRE plans skip entirely.
ISA bridge required (years to fund)
| Retire at | Years to pension access (57) | At £25k/yr expenses | At £30k/yr expenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 12 years | £300,000 | £360,000 |
| 50 | 7 years | £175,000 | £210,000 |
| 55 | 2 years | £50,000 | £60,000 |
Conservative framework: assumes no investment growth across the bridge.
Key takeaways
ISAs help early retirees live off accessible investments while their pension continues growing untouched.
ISAs offer tax-free growth, flexible withdrawals, and don’t impact pension annual allowances.
Bridging with ISAs decouples retirement from pension access rules, reduces sequence-of-returns risk, and provides flexibility in spending and tax management.
Lifetime ISAs provide a bonus and tax-free withdrawals after age 60 but are less flexible than Stocks & Shares ISAs.