Blog
A deep-dive into a variety of pension topics to help you understand and learn more about your pension and the Scheme.
17/8/2026
Editorial
<div><span style="background-color: initial; font-size: inherit; text-align: inherit; text-transform: inherit; word-spacing: normal; caret-color: auto; white-space: inherit">Now you’re past your 20s, you’re probably more settled and have an idea of how you want to live, what matters most to you and what your priorities are for the foreseeable future.</span></div><div><br></div><div>In your 30s, you may have changed jobs and moved up the career ladder. You could also have a family to care for, childcare costs to pay, holidays to fund and many more financial demands to meet. Understandably, your money may feel stretched, and you may start looking for ways to cut back on your spending. Although a temporary pause on your pension payments may seem like a good way to give your bank account a breather, it’s important to think carefully before you make that decision.</div><div><br></div><div>Here’s why staying focused on your retirement goal and keeping up your saving journey, even during times of financial strain, could be one of the best things you can do for your future and your loved ones.</div><div> </div><h5>You’re not saving alone</h5><div>One of the most valuable benefits of saving for the future with the Railways Pension Scheme (RPS) is the fact that you’re not saving alone. Your employer puts money in too. If you’re a Defined Benefit member, your employer will pay in at least 60% of the money you put in (normally 1.5 times the contribution you make). For example, if you earn £25,000 a year and you pay in £3,000 towards your pension, your employer will top that amount up by £4,500 for free.</div><div><br></div><div>What’s more, you also get support from the government for saving into a workplace pension. This support comes in the form of tax relief on your pension contributions. The money you pay in is taken from your salary before you pay any tax on it, which helps you save more towards your pension.</div><div><br></div><div>So, for a basic-rate taxpayer, every £100 paid into a pension means the full £100 is invested for your future. If that money had been paid as salary instead, you would usually have received only £80 after tax. By saving into your pension, the £20 that would otherwise have been paid in tax is invested for you instead.</div><div><br></div><div>That’s why it’s important you think carefully before making any decisions about reducing or stopping your pension payments, as it could mean missing out on valuable money from your employer and tax relief.</div><div><br></div><div><a data-sf-ec-immutable="" href="https://www.railwayspensions.co.uk/knowledge-hub/news-and-views/blog/rps-blog/2023/04/26/tax-relief-and-tax-allowances-explained">Find out more about tax-free relief here.</a></div><div> </div><h5>Will your State Pension be enough to give you a good life in retirement?</h5><div>As much as we’d like to think of retirement as the golden time of our lives when for once we don’t have to worry about work and have the freedom to travel, take up new hobbies and enjoy life, we know that in reality the lifestyle we have in later life will largely depend on what income or savings we have. </div><div><br></div><div>If you are planning to rely heavily on the State Pension, will it give you the lifestyle you want at retirement? It’s a great supplement to your retirement income, but the current State Pension is around £12,500 a year. Will that be enough? For comparison, someone working 40 hours a week on the National Living Wage would earn around £26,400 a year, a difference of almost £14,000 a year. And, under current legislation, most people will not be able to claim their State Pension until their late 60s.</div><div><br></div><div>If we save towards our future while we are in work, we are much more likely to have the retirement we hope for.</div><div> </div><h5>Don’t interrupt the art of compounding</h5><div>Your pension is invested to give you an income when your working days are over. The longer you keep it invested, the more chance it has to grow. Sometimes, it may benefit not only from investment growth, but also from further growth on that growth. This process is known as compounding, and we explain it in more detail our <a href="/knowledge-hub/news-and-views/blog/rps-blog/2023/06/19/pension-planning-your-20s---making-the-most-of-a-pension-plan-when-you're-young">‘Pension planning in your 20s’ article</a>.</div><div><br></div><div>Interrupting the investment process by stopping your pension payments would throw a massive spanner in the works. This is because it would affect the compounding that happens while you’re regularly investing into your pension. This on its turn means that you could potentially miss out on significant sums of money in the long run – after 20, 30 years.</div><div><br></div><div>The compounding effect only applies to members who have some or all of their pension money invested such as members of the Industry-Wide Defined Contribution (IWDC) section and members who pay in Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) such as BRASS. Compounding has no impact on Defined Benefit (DB) only members but if you stop paying into your DB pension that will impact what you have to live on when your working days are over. What is more, you may not be able to re-join the DB section in the future.</div><div> </div><h5>Once you’ve stopped paying in, you may not start again</h5><div>Humans are creatures of habit and routine. It can be hard to go back to saving after you’ve had a flavour of having that extra bit of money in your pocket every month.</div><div><br></div><div>And as pointed above, if you leave the RPS, you may not be able to re-join again.</div><div><br></div><div>Think of your pension as one of your last options not your first when looking at where you can cut costs. To help our members think about their broader financial wellness we have introduced a simple planning tool called MoneyFit which you can access when you log into your <a data-sf-ec-immutable="" href="https://member.railwayspensions.co.uk/my-rps">myRPS account</a>.</div><div><br></div><div><a data-sf-ec-immutable="" href="https://www.moneyfit.co.uk/app/railpen">MoneyFit</a> is designed to give you some simple hints and tips to help you manage your money. It’s totally anonymous and takes around 5-10 minutes to use.</div><div> </div><h5>Have a plan! If you don’t have one, make one!</h5><div>By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail as the saying goes. The same goes for retirement planning.</div><div><br></div><div>Even if you’re left with no other option but to cut back on your pension saving, this may not mean leaving the Scheme completely but pausing your Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) for a little while.</div><div><br></div><div>So as an example, you may choose to pause your £50 monthly BRASS contributions for a while. This might be a good option for you if it means you can stay in the Scheme and can continue to save towards your pension. Or if you feel you have to leave pension saving behind for the time being, it’s always worth getting back to it when you’re more financially stable and can afford to save for later life.</div><div><br></div><div>The important thing is that you plan ahead, understand what you might need in retirement and ensure you are saving enough, without putting your broader financial wellness at risk.</div><div><br></div><div>Leaving the Scheme rather than pausing any extra payments you’re currently making could significantly impact your lifestyle in the future. It means you’ll have less to live on when your working days are over. For some, this also means they won’t be able to afford to retire when they want to and will be pushed to continue to work for longer.</div><div><br></div><div>To get an idea of how much income you might need to enjoy the lifestyle you hope for, give our <a data-sf-ec-immutable="" href="https://www.railwayspensions.co.uk/knowledge-hub/help-and-support/retirement-budgeting-calculator">Retirement Budgeting Calculator</a> a go. It’s a quick and easy tool to help you estimate if you’re saving enough for later life.</div><div><br></div>
<div><span style="background-color: initial; font-size: inherit; text-align: inherit; text-transform: inherit; word-spacing: normal; caret-color: auto; white-space: inherit">Now you’re past your 20s, you’re probably more settled and have an idea of how you want to live, what matters most to you and what your priorities are for the foreseeable future.</span></div><div><br></div><div>In your 30s, you may have changed jobs and moved up the career ladder. You could also have a family to care for, childcare costs to pay, holidays to fund and many more financial demands to meet. Understandably, your money may feel stretched, and you may start looking for ways to cut back on your spending. Although a temporary pause on your pension payments may seem like a good way to give your bank account a breather, it’s important to think carefully before you make that decision.</div><div><br></div><div>Here’s why staying focused on your retirement goal and keeping up your saving journey, even during times of financial strain, could be one of the best things you can do for your future and your loved ones.</div><div> </div><h5>You’re not saving alone</h5><div>One of the most valuable benefits of saving for the future with the Railways Pension Scheme (RPS) is the fact that you’re not saving alone. Your employer puts money in too. If you’re a Defined Benefit member, your employer will pay in at least 60% of the money you put in (normally 1.5 times the contribution you make). For example, if you earn £25,000 a year and you pay in £3,000 towards your pension, your employer will top that amount up by £4,500 for free.</div><div><br></div><div>What’s more, you also get support from the government for saving into a workplace pension. This support comes in the form of tax relief on your pension contributions. The money you pay in is taken from your salary before you pay any tax on it, which helps you save more towards your pension.</div><div><br></div><div>So, for a basic-rate taxpayer, every £100 paid into a pension means the full £100 is invested for your future. If that money had been paid as salary instead, you would usually have received only £80 after tax. By saving into your pension, the £20 that would otherwise have been paid in tax is invested for you instead.</div><div><br></div><div>That’s why it’s important you think carefully before making any decisions about reducing or stopping your pension payments, as it could mean missing out on valuable money from your employer and tax relief.</div><div><br></div><div><a data-sf-ec-immutable="" href="https://www.railwayspensions.co.uk/knowledge-hub/news-and-views/blog/rps-blog/2023/04/26/tax-relief-and-tax-allowances-explained">Find out more about tax-free relief here.</a></div><div> </div><h5>Will your State Pension be enough to give you a good life in retirement?</h5><div>As much as we’d like to think of retirement as the golden time of our lives when for once we don’t have to worry about work and have the freedom to travel, take up new hobbies and enjoy life, we know that in reality the lifestyle we have in later life will largely depend on what income or savings we have. </div><div><br></div><div>If you are planning to rely heavily on the State Pension, will it give you the lifestyle you want at retirement? It’s a great supplement to your retirement income, but the current State Pension is around £12,500 a year. Will that be enough? For comparison, someone working 40 hours a week on the National Living Wage would earn around £26,400 a year, a difference of almost £14,000 a year. And, under current legislation, most people will not be able to claim their State Pension until their late 60s.</div><div><br></div><div>If we save towards our future while we are in work, we are much more likely to have the retirement we hope for.</div><div> </div><h5>Don’t interrupt the art of compounding</h5><div>Your pension is invested to give you an income when your working days are over. The longer you keep it invested, the more chance it has to grow. Sometimes, it may benefit not only from investment growth, but also from further growth on that growth. This process is known as compounding, and we explain it in more detail our <a href="/knowledge-hub/news-and-views/blog/rps-blog/2023/06/19/pension-planning-your-20s---making-the-most-of-a-pension-plan-when-you're-young">‘Pension planning in your 20s’ article</a>.</div><div><br></div><div>Interrupting the investment process by stopping your pension payments would throw a massive spanner in the works. This is because it would affect the compounding that happens while you’re regularly investing into your pension. This on its turn means that you could potentially miss out on significant sums of money in the long run – after 20, 30 years.</div><div><br></div><div>The compounding effect only applies to members who have some or all of their pension money invested such as members of the Industry-Wide Defined Contribution (IWDC) section and members who pay in Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) such as BRASS. Compounding has no impact on Defined Benefit (DB) only members but if you stop paying into your DB pension that will impact what you have to live on when your working days are over. What is more, you may not be able to re-join the DB section in the future.</div><div> </div><h5>Once you’ve stopped paying in, you may not start again</h5><div>Humans are creatures of habit and routine. It can be hard to go back to saving after you’ve had a flavour of having that extra bit of money in your pocket every month.</div><div><br></div><div>And as pointed above, if you leave the RPS, you may not be able to re-join again.</div><div><br></div><div>Think of your pension as one of your last options not your first when looking at where you can cut costs. To help our members think about their broader financial wellness we have introduced a simple planning tool called MoneyFit which you can access when you log into your <a data-sf-ec-immutable="" href="https://member.railwayspensions.co.uk/my-rps">myRPS account</a>.</div><div><br></div><div><a data-sf-ec-immutable="" href="https://www.moneyfit.co.uk/app/railpen">MoneyFit</a> is designed to give you some simple hints and tips to help you manage your money. It’s totally anonymous and takes around 5-10 minutes to use.</div><div> </div><h5>Have a plan! If you don’t have one, make one!</h5><div>By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail as the saying goes. The same goes for retirement planning.</div><div><br></div><div>Even if you’re left with no other option but to cut back on your pension saving, this may not mean leaving the Scheme completely but pausing your Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) for a little while.</div><div><br></div><div>So as an example, you may choose to pause your £50 monthly BRASS contributions for a while. This might be a good option for you if it means you can stay in the Scheme and can continue to save towards your pension. Or if you feel you have to leave pension saving behind for the time being, it’s always worth getting back to it when you’re more financially stable and can afford to save for later life.</div><div><br></div><div>The important thing is that you plan ahead, understand what you might need in retirement and ensure you are saving enough, without putting your broader financial wellness at risk.</div><div><br></div><div>Leaving the Scheme rather than pausing any extra payments you’re currently making could significantly impact your lifestyle in the future. It means you’ll have less to live on when your working days are over. For some, this also means they won’t be able to afford to retire when they want to and will be pushed to continue to work for longer.</div><div><br></div><div>To get an idea of how much income you might need to enjoy the lifestyle you hope for, give our <a data-sf-ec-immutable="" href="https://www.railwayspensions.co.uk/knowledge-hub/help-and-support/retirement-budgeting-calculator">Retirement Budgeting Calculator</a> a go. It’s a quick and easy tool to help you estimate if you’re saving enough for later life.</div><div><br></div>
Blog
Pension planning in your 30s
Saving for later life may seem like an unnecessary outgoing in your 30s but it could be the best thing you do for your financial future.
Now you’re past your 20s, you’re probably more settled and have an idea of how you want to live, what matters most to you and what your priorities are for the foreseeable future.
In your 30s, you may have changed jobs and moved up the career ladder. You could also have a family to care for, childcare costs to pay, holidays to fund and many more financial demands to meet. Understandably, your money may feel stretched, and you may start looking for ways to cut back on your spending. Although a temporary pause on your pension payments may seem like a good way to give your bank account a breather, it’s important to think carefully before you make that decision.
Here’s why staying focused on your retirement goal and keeping up your saving journey, even during times of financial strain, could be one of the best things you can do for your future and your loved ones.
You’re not saving alone
One of the most valuable benefits of saving for the future with the Railways Pension Scheme (RPS) is the fact that you’re not saving alone. Your employer puts money in too. If you’re a Defined Benefit member, your employer will pay in at least 60% of the money you put in (normally 1.5 times the contribution you make). For example, if you earn £25,000 a year and you pay in £3,000 towards your pension, your employer will top that amount up by £4,500 for free.
What’s more, you also get support from the government for saving into a workplace pension. This support comes in the form of tax relief on your pension contributions. The money you pay in is taken from your salary before you pay any tax on it, which helps you save more towards your pension.
So, for a basic-rate taxpayer, every £100 paid into a pension means the full £100 is invested for your future. If that money had been paid as salary instead, you would usually have received only £80 after tax. By saving into your pension, the £20 that would otherwise have been paid in tax is invested for you instead.
That’s why it’s important you think carefully before making any decisions about reducing or stopping your pension payments, as it could mean missing out on valuable money from your employer and tax relief.
Will your State Pension be enough to give you a good life in retirement?
As much as we’d like to think of retirement as the golden time of our lives when for once we don’t have to worry about work and have the freedom to travel, take up new hobbies and enjoy life, we know that in reality the lifestyle we have in later life will largely depend on what income or savings we have.
If you are planning to rely heavily on the State Pension, will it give you the lifestyle you want at retirement? It’s a great supplement to your retirement income, but the current State Pension is around £12,500 a year. Will that be enough? For comparison, someone working 40 hours a week on the National Living Wage would earn around £26,400 a year, a difference of almost £14,000 a year. And, under current legislation, most people will not be able to claim their State Pension until their late 60s.
If we save towards our future while we are in work, we are much more likely to have the retirement we hope for.
Don’t interrupt the art of compounding
Your pension is invested to give you an income when your working days are over. The longer you keep it invested, the more chance it has to grow. Sometimes, it may benefit not only from investment growth, but also from further growth on that growth. This process is known as compounding, and we explain it in more detail our ‘Pension planning in your 20s’ article.
Interrupting the investment process by stopping your pension payments would throw a massive spanner in the works. This is because it would affect the compounding that happens while you’re regularly investing into your pension. This on its turn means that you could potentially miss out on significant sums of money in the long run – after 20, 30 years.
The compounding effect only applies to members who have some or all of their pension money invested such as members of the Industry-Wide Defined Contribution (IWDC) section and members who pay in Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) such as BRASS. Compounding has no impact on Defined Benefit (DB) only members but if you stop paying into your DB pension that will impact what you have to live on when your working days are over. What is more, you may not be able to re-join the DB section in the future.
Once you’ve stopped paying in, you may not start again
Humans are creatures of habit and routine. It can be hard to go back to saving after you’ve had a flavour of having that extra bit of money in your pocket every month.
And as pointed above, if you leave the RPS, you may not be able to re-join again.
Think of your pension as one of your last options not your first when looking at where you can cut costs. To help our members think about their broader financial wellness we have introduced a simple planning tool called MoneyFit which you can access when you log into your myRPS account.
MoneyFit is designed to give you some simple hints and tips to help you manage your money. It’s totally anonymous and takes around 5-10 minutes to use.
Have a plan! If you don’t have one, make one!
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail as the saying goes. The same goes for retirement planning.
Even if you’re left with no other option but to cut back on your pension saving, this may not mean leaving the Scheme completely but pausing your Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) for a little while.
So as an example, you may choose to pause your £50 monthly BRASS contributions for a while. This might be a good option for you if it means you can stay in the Scheme and can continue to save towards your pension. Or if you feel you have to leave pension saving behind for the time being, it’s always worth getting back to it when you’re more financially stable and can afford to save for later life.
The important thing is that you plan ahead, understand what you might need in retirement and ensure you are saving enough, without putting your broader financial wellness at risk.
Leaving the Scheme rather than pausing any extra payments you’re currently making could significantly impact your lifestyle in the future. It means you’ll have less to live on when your working days are over. For some, this also means they won’t be able to afford to retire when they want to and will be pushed to continue to work for longer.
To get an idea of how much income you might need to enjoy the lifestyle you hope for, give our Retirement Budgeting Calculator a go. It’s a quick and easy tool to help you estimate if you’re saving enough for later life.
