Summary
Advisers can specify withdrawals from individual investment accounts for defined time periods.
Enables accurate modelling of planned, client-specific cashflows.
Apply tax-efficient strategies.
If an account is exhausted, remaining spending follows the existing withdrawal order.
Withdrawals are displayed in blue on the cashflow chart and visible in Compare Plans and tax reports.
Withdrawals from uncrystallised funds are made under the UFPLS rules.
Supports both gross and net planned spending modes.
When modelling a withdrawal intended to fund a specific expense, advisers should enter both the withdrawal and the corresponding spending item so the cashflow matches the real-life need.
Description
In Timeline Planning, withdrawals are typically calculated automatically based on income, spending, and account withdrawal order. However, in many cases, advisers need to reflect deliberate, client-specific withdrawal strategies — such as drawing from a particular account to optimise taxes or to meet a defined need over time.
Specific Withdrawals allow advisers to input these planned withdrawals directly, ensuring the plan mirrors real-life financial decisions.
A specific withdrawal represents a defined amount withdrawn from a selected investment account for a chosen period of time. Advisers can name each withdrawal, select the source account (for example, ISA or GIA), define start and end years, and choose whether to adjust the withdrawal for inflation.
If the combination of income and specific withdrawals exceeds planned spending, a surplus occurs and is carried forward or assumed spent, based on your settings. If the selected account balance is exhausted before meeting the withdrawal, remaining spending is covered by the next accounts in the withdrawal order.
Specific withdrawals do not remove an account from the withdrawal order; they work alongside it.
When planned spending is set to gross, the withdrawal amount will be gross. When set to net, the withdrawal will be net.
Specific withdrawals from Uncrystallised funds follow the Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sum (UFPLS), 25% of the withdrawal is tax-free, and the remainder is taxable.
If a client has a known expenditure they intend to fund from a particular account, advisers should record both the spending amount in Planned Spending and a matching specific withdrawal. The spending item creates the need; the specific withdrawal defines where the funding comes from.
If you want to withdraw the tax-free amount only, read this article
Example 1 - ISA Withdrawal
Consider an adviser who wants to withdraw £50,000 from a client’s ISA between 2026 and 2030. They add a specific withdrawal in the plan settings, selecting the ISA account, setting the period (2026–2030), and choosing to adjust for inflation.
If the client’s total spending in 2027 is £75,000, the specific withdrawal of £50,000 will be applied. Should the ISA only have £30,000 available that year, the remaining £45,000 needed to meet spending will be withdrawn according to the standard account withdrawal order.
This ensures the cashflow reflects the adviser’s chosen withdrawal strategy while maintaining Timeline’s existing withdrawal logic.
Example 2 - Uncrystallised Pension Withdrawal
When setting a specific withdrawal from uncrystallised pension funds, Timeline treats the withdrawal as UFPLS.
If advisers want the taxable portion to sit within the personal allowance, they need to account for the fact that only 75% of an UFPLS withdrawal is taxable.
For example, to fully use the £12,570 personal allowance, the withdrawal would need to be approximately:
£12,570 ÷ 75% = £16,760
This results in:
Tax-free (25%) = £4,190
Taxable (75%) = £12,570
Tax due = £0 (because taxable portion fits entirely inside personal allowance)
Please note that Uncrystallised pension funds can only be accessed once the client reaches the age of 55. This means withdrawals from uncrystallised funds can only take place after the client reaches the minimum pension access age.
Conclusion
Specific Withdrawals in Timeline Planning give advisers greater control over how funds are drawn from investment accounts, allowing them to model realistic, tax-aware withdrawal patterns.
By setting defined withdrawals by account and period, advisers can align their clients’ financial plans more closely with real-life strategies — improving accuracy, transparency, and confidence in long-term projections.