There were almost 50 news updates posted on the site this year, covering everything from tax and investments, to financial wellbeing and retirement planning. Hundreds of you read them, and we’ve listed the 5 most popular below.

You can read all of these stories and more on the news pages - btppensions.co.uk/resources/news - and we’ll be keeping you updated throughout the next year too!

1. How the Spring Budget affects you and your pension

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt presented his Spring Budget on March 15 2023. It included several changes affecting pensions, particularly that: 

• The Lifetime Allowance (LTA) would be abolished
• The Annual Allowance would increase from £40,000 to £60,000
• The threshold for those affected by the Tapered Annual Allowance would increase from £240,000 to £260,000
• The Money Purchase Annual Allowance would increase from £4,000 to £10,000
• The most you would be able to take as a tax-free lump sum would be £268,275 (unless you have Lifetime Allowance protections)

There have been many changes in the Government since then, but this story remains the most read news item on the site this year.

You can remind yourself of what was said in the Spring Budget announcements. But please bear in mind that details around the LTA are still being finalised.

2. Your death benefits, protection for the future

Back in January, we ran a news story explaining what you can do to help make sure your loved ones can benefit from your pension when you die. Namely…

• Making your nominations
• Making sure your family know who to contact about your pension when you die

This coincided with the launch of a new webpage outlining how to report a member’s death and explaining what happens once the Fund has been notified that a member has died. You can read more using the links below:

News story about your death benefits protection for the future

Webpage on reporting a member's death

3. Give your pension some love this Valentine’s Day

A pension is like a long-term partner, standing by your side through every stage of life.  This news story, published in time for Valentine’s Day 2023, offered some top tips on how you can keep that love alive, including:

• Spending some time understanding your savings with the help of a free myFund account
• Staying connected, by keeping your contact details up to date
• Sharing the love, through making nominations
• Making a lasting commitment, to keep checking in

Read it again and give your pension some love today.

4. Free will writing initiative continues in 2023

Death features in our countdown for a second time, but this one was all about how to have a will drafted or updated free of charge. This charity initiative usually runs twice a year and is targeted primarily at those aged 55 and over.

If you want to find out more, check out the story from March or when the initiative ran again in October and look out for further updates in 2024.

March news story

October news story

Remember, as well as completing a will, you should separately update your nominations in your myFund account to say where you’d like any payments from your pension to go if you die before you claim them. This cannot be covered in your will.

5. Make the most of pension saving before the tax year is up

The fifth most popular news story this year offered a few ideas for how to maximise your pension savings before the end of the 2022/23 tax year. This included:

• Using your Annual Allowance wisely
• Powering up your State Pension
• Understanding how tax relief works
• Giving your pension a boost with Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)
• Paying in more if you’re a working parent to get your child benefit back
• Making the most of your tax-free Personal Allowance
• Having a vision for your future

If you think this might be useful for the end of the current tax year then you can re-read it now