We listened to member feedback to develop a useful pension planner as quickly as possible. It’s now in the final stages of development and we’ll be launching an early access version for RPS members over the coming weeks, starting Monday 1 March.

The pension planner is designed to show members what their annual income could be when they stop work.

It also shows how much they may be able to take as a tax-free lump sum.

And lets them see what it might look like if they decide to start taking their benefits before claiming their State Pension and then level their income out afterwards. This is known as the ‘level pension’ option. 

This tool is for RPS members with Defined Benefit pension. It follows the launch of a DC planner for members of the RPS’ Industry-Wide Defined Contribution (IWDC) Section.

How can members access the planner?

An early access version of the planner will be rolled out to members in phases over the coming weeks.

This will give us time to check its performance and stability ahead of the full launch. And make any necessary improvements as we go.

Some members may already be able to try the pension planner by logging in to their myRPS account at railwayspensions.co.uk and visiting the ‘Planning for your Future’ section or using the link on the dashboard page. If not, it should appear there for everyone very soon. 

For those who do have access, the planner is fully functional and members will already see the improvements we’ve made in comparison to the previous legacy planner. This includes the use of real-time data to calculate their benefits.

While this will give members a more accurate result, it might also take a little longer to perform the calculation.  As such, we’re asking members to please be patient because the real-time calculation is a little more complex.  

We will be checking in on the planner’s performance regularly, and may take it down temporarily if changes need to be made. 

What does the pension planner do?

Like the old one, the planner:

• works out what a member’s annual pension is likely to be
• shows their BRASS fund’s current value and the projected future value
• shows how much of a lump sum members might be able to take when they retire and how, it would then affect their annual pension. If they have BRASS it also shows members how their BRASS fund works as part, or all of, their lump sum depending on the amount of BRASS they have and the size of lump sum they want

The improved planner also

• lets you members see what it might look like if they go for a ‘level pension’ option
• uses the latest salary data you sent us, rather than the data from their last Annual Pension Estimate, to give members the most accurate results

The planner’s estimations are based on the member’s:

• salary
• retirement age
• BRASS contributions made to date
• weekly BRASS contributions going forward

How can members experiment with the pension planner?

By simply using the plus and minus buttons in the planner, members can experiment with increasing or decreasing their:

• retirement age
• weekly BRASS contributions
• lump sum

This will let them see what might happen to their annual pension and lump sum if they’re considering making any changes. And lets members model different scenarios to see what their annual pension could be as a result.

The planner won’t make any changes to the member’s record but it will show them what could happen if they did make the changes.

It’s all about giving members the information they need to make the right decisions for themselves.

Will the pension planner tell members if they’re saving enough?

The planner won’t tell members directly whether they’re saving enough but it will show how much their annual income is likely to be when they retire.

Members can then compare this to the Retirement Living Standards (RLS) and decide for themselves whether it’s likely to be enough. 

As a guideline, the RLS shows that an individual will need between £10,200 and £33,000 per year when they finish work.

We’re busy building another new calculator using this RLS data to make it easier for members to judge how much they might need and compare that to the results in the DB planner.

What can members do with their pension planner results?

Once they have their pension planner results, members can decide whether to take any further action.

For example, they may choose to:

• change their target retirement age
• change their weekly BRASS contributions
• make a one off BRASS contribution

Before making any such changes, members may want to get advice from an Independent Financial Adviser.

Members should be aware that this planner has been designed to show what their retirement benefits could be based on the information we currently hold for them and the options they have selected.

The results shown by the planner are for illustration and comparison purposes only and do not guarantee any future outcome or entitlement. The results should not be relied upon for retirement planning. Members’ actual benefits in retirement could differ from the estimated figures shown.

Why wasn’t the planner live before now?

We know that many members really valued the planner on the old website and we wanted to reinstate it as soon as possible after the new site launched in September/October last year.

The main delay came from making sure we improved the planner and gave members what they wanted most.

Based on survey results, thousands of members told us there were clear priorities for us to deliver on the new site:

1. Online estimates
2. See more periods of membership under one log-in
3. Use more up to date salary data in the planner
4. Improve the planner to be able to model a level pension

We put the new site live as soon as we had the online estimates ready and we’re really pleased that more than 30,000 members have already used the estimate tool.

Members can now also see other periods of membership without having to log in with a separate ID.

Improving the planner did take a little longer than points 1 and 2 but we’re pleased to say:

• it’s now based on the latest salary data you have sent us, rather than on members’ Annual Pensions Estimate as previously
• it also lets members model what a level pension might look like

We’ll be keeping the planner under review and making additional updates and tweaks based on its performance and member feedback moving forward.