The Cash Balance scheme guarantees a minimum cash sum payable at your normal retirement age (which is age 65). It also targets, but does not guarantee, discretionary increases each year that your funds remain in the Cash Balance scheme. If you are no longer an employee member when you reach age 65 (and haven’t already taken your benefits) we will pay your benefits to you and you won’t get any further increases beyond 65.

Royal Mail (not the Trustee) sets the policy regarding discretionary increases and may revise it from time.  The policy is currently to target annual increases in excess of inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index.

We’ll show you how your Cash Balance fund is building up, in your annual Benefit Illustration.

How do my benefits get paid?

Currently, up to 25% (a quarter) of your Cash Balance benefits can be taken as a tax-free cash sum. The balance can be paid to you as taxable cash. Alternatively, your whole Cash Balance fund can be transferred to an annuity (in your name) or transferred to a drawdown arrangement. Those funds would then be used to pay you a regular income.