I’m looking to earn a passive income that will supersize my earnings during retirement far more than just relying on the State Pension.
In 2026, the full State Pension amounts to £241.30 a week, or £12,547.60 a year. But I’m considering a plan to earn an extra £15,000 on top of that by investing just £290 a month in UK shares. Here’s how.
What’s the plan?
Investing in stocks and shares comes with notable risks. But with prudent diversification and following robust portfolio management principles, these risks can be kept under control. And over the long term, the stock market has historically rewarded investors with an average return of 8% a year.
Since I’m planning on following the 4% rule, that means to earn a £15,000 sustainable passive income, I’m going to need a portfolio worth around £375,000. That’s obviously quite substantial. But even if I were starting from scratch today, it remains perfectly within reach when unleashing the power of a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP).
Contributions made to this snazzy retirement wealth-building tool are automatically topped up by the government with 20% tax relief. So for every £290 added, a total of £362.50 of investable capital becomes available. And investing this money at an 8% annualised rate will build a £375k retirement portfolio in around 26 years.
That means even a 40-year-old today still has enough time to build this nest egg and retire by 66. But what if I want to speed up this process, or target a more impressive retirement income stream?
Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice. Readers are responsible for carrying out their own due diligence and for obtaining professional advice before making any investment decisions.
How to accelerate compounding
By using a stock-picking strategy, investors can focus their portfolio on only the best and brightest of businesses with strong, durable moats and impressive cash generation. And that’s definitely something the shareholders of 4imprint Group (LSE:FOUR) have benefited from over the last 15 years.
Selling branded merchandise such as pens, mugs, tote bags, and trade show displays, among others, doesn’t sound like a particularly thrilling enterprise. But 4imprint has nonetheless spent its years developing impressive unit economics that allowed it to scale, steadily taking the lion’s share of a highly fragmented market.
The result? Anyone who has been drip feeding £362.50 a month since April 2011 is now sitting on a staggering £601,956.49 – enough to generate a passive income of £24,078.26 (almost double the State Pension in 2026).
But is 4imprint still worth considering today?
What’s the conclusion?
Since January 2025, 4imprint shares have actually been down in the dumps. The company relies on a long list of suppliers, primarily coming out of China. As such, it’s been hit hard by the threat of US tariffs. And since most of its customers tend to be small- and medium-sized companies, the firm’s vulnerability to sudden discretionary business spending cuts has resulted in a revenue stream that’s effectively stalled.
This perfectly highlights the group’s cyclical nature. But it’s not the first time management’s had to navigate lacklustre market conditions. And with the shares now trading at an earnings multiple of just 12.9, the valuation looks quite attractive for a proven compounder that’s temporarily out of favour.
With all the crucial fundamentals and long-term demand still intact, the risk-to-reward ratio looks quite promising, in my eyes. That’s why I’m already considering it for my SIPP in a quest to beat the State Pension.
