Planning as a couple

Record who owns each account. Pensions and ISAs belong to one person, which affects tax and what happens later.

Ages matter: State Pension and private pensions can start years apart, so one partner’s income may need to bridge a gap.

Think about where each person would live and what they’d need if one needed care.

Choosing whose figures you see

At the top of Forecast, pick a person or Combined household. Everything below shows that person’s income, savings and pensions, with their name and colour beside it.

Your choice is shared. Picking someone on Dashboard, Forecast, Pensions or Retirement shows the same person everywhere, and it’s remembered when you come back. Switching person on Pensions or Retirement keeps you on that page.

Pensions and Retirement only ever show the person you picked. If they don’t have individual pensions or a retirement forecast yet, such as a child or a family member outside the household, the page says so instead of showing someone else’s figures.

Each person has a colour. You can change it in Settings → Household & Family. Colours only help you tell people apart and never change a calculation.

A colour stays with its person. Adding, removing or reordering other family members never changes anyone else’s colour.

Pay increases belong to each person. Under “How will your income change over time?”, the section names whose pay you’re setting, and saving it only changes that person’s settings.

When you add a savings, investment or other account, “Whose account is it?” always offers My account, even before you�����ve entered your name. If your household has other people, each is offered by name, along with Joint account and Someone outside the household. A new account starts as the selected person’s, and the editor says so before you save. Editing an existing account keeps its owner unless you change it.

Personal records belong to one person. Shared records, such as a joint home or loan, belong to the household and are counted once in the combined view, never twice.

Where a combined figure can’t be worked out yet, Forecast says so and lists what is missing. It does not show a guessed total.

Plan history covers the whole household. One history holds everyone’s saved plans, and each entry shows whose forecast it was.

When you compare two saves, History shows the inflation and pay-increase settings each one was saved with, side by side with the difference. These come from the save itself, never from today’s settings.

Household, family and addresses

When you add someone, say whether they live in the household or are family outside it. This choice doesn’t change any forecast yet. It records who may count in a future household view.

You can enter a partner’s age when you add them. Once their date of birth is saved on their own About you page, their age is worked out from it and can’t be typed separately, so the two never disagree. Editing a partner’s name or age doesn’t change any of their saved money.

If the plan is just you, there’s no household address to set. Your own town or postcode is all that’s needed. The household address appears once you add a partner or someone who lives in the household, and an address you saved earlier stays visible even if they’re later removed.

You can save one household address. A partner or family member can tick “Uses the household address” to follow it, or keep their own address instead. Changing the household address only moves the people who chose to use it.

If you haven’t saved a household address yet but your own address is confirmed, it’s suggested when you add someone. Ticking “Use your address as the household address” saves it as the household address and links them to it. Nothing is saved unless you tick it.

Moving someone between “Lives in the household” and “Family outside the household” never replaces an address they saved themselves. If someone who follows the household address moves outside it, you’re asked whether they keep following it or keep that address as their own.

Each person’s row shows their confirmed place and whether it’s the household address or their own. If no address has been entered, the row says so.

When you edit someone’s income or pensions, a header in their colour shows who you’re editing, for example “Editing: Sheila — Partner”. The confirmation names them too, such as “Sheila’s pension details saved.” If the person changes while an editor is open, the save is stopped so figures can’t be recorded against the wrong person.

If you switch to someone else, or leave the page, with unsaved income or pension changes, you’re asked what to do, for example “You have unsaved changes to Sheila’s pension.” Save changes saves them to Sheila and then switches. Discard changes drops them. Continue editing keeps you where you were. If saving fails, nothing switches and the figures you typed stay in the form so you can try again. The same applies to the quick figures on your Forecast, and to switching person on the Forecast or Dashboard.

You can clear someone’s own address and leave it blank. Their tax rules stay as they are when an address changes, even if the new place is in a different UK nation.

Pick a town or postcode from the list to confirm it. Places with the same name, such as the different Newports, stay separate, and anything you type without choosing stays unconfirmed.

Jointly owned money is never split 50/50 by default. If no split is recorded, the household figure stays incomplete until you add one.

Shares owned by someone outside your household, such as a sibling’s half of an inherited house, are never counted as yours or your household’s.

Family who live elsewhere never have their own income or savings added to your household. They appear only where your plan includes money for them, such as gifts or care.

Explore in your plan

• Dashboard → Edit details
• Open your forecast
• Explore care costs

Related guides

• Protecting a partner’s needs
• Pension types explained