The Trustee is keen to provide some financial wellbeing support to members, to help them manage their money beyond just their pension.

MoneyFit is a free, simple tool to help you take control of your personal finances. It offers practical tips to manage your money, and possibly free up more to save for your life after work.

According to research financial pressure is the top cause of stress outside of work. Don’t let money worries become overbearing. MoneyFit can help you budget, build your financial confidence and save more for your future.

The new MoneyFit has some fresh features which make understanding your finances easier, and even fun.

You can try MoneyFit when you log into your myFund account. You’ll find it in the ‘Planning for the future’ section.

What are the new features?

MoneyFit has some brand-new features which help make your MoneyFit action plan more suited to your financial needs.

The new features include:

• The MoneyFit Gym where you can work out a plan for your retirement
• Money Modellers to see the impact of small savings over time
• The Resource Zone to learn about financial topics, such as saving for life after work
• The Money Glossary which aims to demystify financial terms with simple, clear definitions
• Help and support with debt, mental health and how to identify and avoid scams
• Financial wellbeing tips, including creating your personal budget

 Plus there’s much more too. 

How does MoneyFit work?

MoneyFit is quick and easy to use when you log into your myFund account. Here’s how it works, in 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Take the 5-minute Attitude to Money Quiz to learn more about your approach to money.

Step 2: You’ll get a MoneyFit score, and your unique ‘money personality’ based on your quiz answers.

Step 3: Receive your personal MoneyFit action plan, including ideas to possibly free up a little more to contribute to your pension savings.

Step 4: Use your personal action plan to look at the way you manage your money.

MoneyFit is completely anonymous and cost-free, so you can use it as many times as you want to. If your circumstances change, you might use MoneyFit to reassess your finances.

How can I use MoneyFit to plan for retirement?

You could use your personal MoneyFit action plan to think about the way you manage your money, and possibly save more for life after work.

Taking control of your financial wellbeing now, and making some small positive changes, may mean you can save more in the future.

If you can afford to, you could pay more into your pension with Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs). These are extra payments, on top of your normal pension contributions.

The Fund's AVC arrangements are:

• BRASS for 1970 members only, and
• AVC Extra for 2007 Section and CARE members. It is also open to members of the 1970 Section who are already paying maximum pension and BRASS contributions.
  

For a personalised estimate of how much you might need when you retire, try the Retirement Budgeting Calculator when you log into myFund. It lets you add your personal costs such as where you’d like to live, and how many holidays you’d like to have. Your costs are then used to give you a general target to aim for with your retirement income after tax. You can learn more about how much you might need in retirement here.

Before making any changes to your pension, you may want to take financial guidance or advice. You can find a list of trusted professionals here.