Set For Life budget calculator · UK
Build a monthly budget around the Set For Life £10,000-a-month prize. Enter housing, household bills, food, transport, family costs, travel, saving and other regular commitments to see how much of the monthly payment remains.
All input figures are monthly. Use a blank budget or an illustrative starting example, then replace the figures with your own. The examples are not UK averages.
Inputs remain monthly. Use the result switch to view the same budget monthly or yearly.
The chart updates from your current inputs. Savings and investing are shown separately from living costs so the page does not treat money deliberately set aside as ordinary spending.
This section uses the amount entered under Savings and investing. It shows the annual contribution and an illustrative compound-interest balance after 1, 5, 10 and 30 years.
| Period | Paid in | Projected balance at 4% | Interest added |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| 5 years | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| 10 years | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| 30 years | £0 | £0 | £0 |
This is a mathematical stress test, not an inflation forecast. It applies the selected annual growth rate to the living-cost fields in your current budget. Savings, investing, gifts and family help are excluded from the cost-growth calculation.
The standard Set For Life payment used here remains £10,000 a month throughout.
The National Lottery's Set For Life game-specific rules describe the standard top prize as a first £10,000 payment followed by an annuity providing 359 further monthly payments. The annuity cannot ordinarily be changed, surrendered or cashed in.
The rules also state that annuity payments contain capital and interest elements. The capital element is tax free and the interest element is subject to applicable tax; the standard annuity payment is defined as £10,000 after tax based on the tax rules referenced in those rules. This calculator therefore uses £10,000 as the monthly amount available to budget and does not attempt to calculate the annuity's internal tax treatment.
The standard second-tier prize also pays £10,000 a month, but for one year rather than 30 years. See the Set For Life prizes guide for all eight prize tiers and the exceptions that can apply when a prize is capped.
Changing the result view to yearly multiplies the same monthly budget by 12. It does not change your input values.
It is the arithmetic total of 360 standard £10,000 payments. It is not a lump sum available on day one and it does not adjust for changing purchasing power.
The long-term unallocated figure assumes the budget stayed exactly the same for the selected prize term. Use it as a comparison, not a forecast.
The main budget treats savings as an allocation. The separate savings projection can then apply an illustrative 3%, 4% or 5% annual rate to regular monthly contributions. It does not model a specific product, fees, tax or investment risk.
For the full payment rules, including lump-sum exceptions, tax wording and prize capping, see the Set For Life payout guide.
See the payout rules, compare the monthly prize with Lotto or check the latest Set For Life draw.
Understand the 30-year payment schedule, lump-sum exceptions, tax wording and capping.
See every standard prize tier.
Compare immediate capital with £10,000 a month over 30 years.
See the latest winning numbers and prize breakdown.
See whether either monthly-payment prize was won in the latest draw.
Explore the wider Set For Life section.
The standard top prize is £10,000 a month for 30 years. That means 360 monthly payments and a nominal total of £3.6 million if the standard uncapped prize applies.
No. £3.6 million is the nominal total of the standard payments across 30 years. The standard prize is a monthly payment structure, not £3.6 million available as a lump sum on day one.
Yes. Replace every example figure with your own monthly amounts. The example budgets are only starting points and are not presented as UK averages.
Yes. You can allocate part of the £10,000 monthly payment to savings and investing. The main budget treats that amount as an allocation, while the savings projection can show an illustrative balance at 3%, 4% or 5% annual interest over 1, 5, 10 and 30 years.
Money used for rent, food or transport has been spent. Money deliberately moved into savings or investments has been allocated but may still form part of your assets. Showing the two separately makes the monthly budget clearer.
It assumes the same savings amount is paid in at the end of every month and compounds monthly using the selected illustrative annual rate. It shows both the amount paid in and the projected balance, so the interest contribution is visible separately.
The current standard top-prize rules define a £10,000 monthly payment rather than an inflation-linked amount. The future-cost test keeps the prize at £10,000 and lets you apply an illustrative growth rate to your living costs.
The top-prize rules are more specific than a simple yes or no. They state that annuity payments contain capital and interest elements: the capital element is tax free and the interest element is subject to applicable tax. The standard annuity payment is defined as £10,000 after tax based on the tax rules referenced in the rules. This calculator starts from the £10,000 monthly payment and does not calculate the annuity's internal tax treatment.
Under the standard top-prize rules there is no ordinary option to cash in or surrender the annuity. Specific exceptions exist, including some non-resident, deceased-player and capped-prize circumstances. See the Set For Life prizes guide for the detail.
It multiplies the current monthly unallocated amount by 360. It assumes your budget never changes and does not include inflation, investment returns or future changes to the prize rules, so it is a simple nominal comparison rather than a forecast.