Jane Wilson, 28, was previously paying £120 per month into her workplace pension but recently stopped all contributions as it was no longer a financial priority.
The Londoner, who works in communications, bought a flat for £393,000 earlier this year. She is now having to pay her mortgage and expenses by herself for the first time which is costing her £2,500 a month and says she is struggling.
“Having bought a one-bed in north London by myself, I have had to stop putting any money into pensions or savings for the time being to plug the gap.
How getting your RDA (recommended dose of art) can transform wellbeing
Visiting a museum or art gallery every month for a “recommended dose of art (RDA)” can transform wellbeing, according to a report.
At least 60 minutes per month inside a gallery or museum could help cut depression, lower stress and improve health, according to the study from the Art Fund charity.
What do the figures tell us?
50%
Evidence in the report shows how a 2019 study on 2,148 adults found a 32 per cent lower risk of depression from going to museums, theatre and cinema every few months.
This rose to a 48 per cent lower risk for people who attended once a month or more, according to the data, taken from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
- Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology at University College London (UCL), who wrote the foreword to the report said adopting a monthly habit can make a difference.
The expert view
Regular engagement and meaningful encounters with art are now recognised as an important contributor to our health and wellbeing, and the evidence suggests they should be viewed as health-promoting behaviours, alongside having a balanced diet, regular exercise and spending time outdoors.
Daisy Fancourt
What other studies have also found
Another study published this year in the journal, , found “evidence that authentic art viewing engages biological processes linked to stress reduction and immune modulation”.
A further study found community cultural engagement was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia.
4 min read
Why Ryanair is warning customers to book summer flights now
The boss of Ryanair has warned travellers to book their summer flights sooner rather than later, with plane ticket prices set to “rise dramatically” next year.
The budget airline said it expects short-haul airfares – like those for trips from the UK to Europe – to increase tickets by 20 per cent.
Why are ticket prices soaring?
Fuel prices have increased dramatically due to the US-Israeli war on Iran. Ryanair said it expects jet fuel prices to remain “elevated well into 2027”.
Short-haul airfares must therefore rise to reflect “much higher” cost of aviation fuel prices. There will also be fewer seats available as airlines reduce capacity to try to control costs, according to Ryanair.
3 min read
3 min read
But raising fares won’t fully cover spiralling fuel costs. The airline, therefore, is mulling pay freezes, reducing crew numbers and increasing its use of AI to cut costs.
“Unless there is a swift resolution of the Middle East conflict we expect jet fuel prices to remain elevated well into 2027,” said O’Leary.
A closer look at the figures
€2.15bn
The company revealed that profit after tax fell by 15 per cent to €2.15bn (£1.79bn) for the half-year to September, compared with a year earlier.
Revenues increased by 3 per cent to €10.08bn driven by 6 per cent increase in passenger numbers. But the firm saw operating costs lift by 10 per cent.
- Earlier this year, Ryanair said it would cut its traffic target for the year from 216 million passengers to 214 million in an effort to offset increases in unhedged fuel costs.
What you need to know about new Buy Now Pay Later rules
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) lenders – like Klarna and Clearpay – have been officially regulated since July, meaning their rules of use have quietly changed.
Here is what that means for you.
What you need to know
Stricter checks
The new regulation mean users have stricter background checks on their ability to repay loans.
Purchases blocked
If you fail, then your purchase via BNPL will be blocked.
Borrowing figure
There are different affordability checks for different purchases, partially based on how much is borrowed.
Shoppers given stronger rights
Why were the regulations needed?
- BNPL regulations are designed to help prevent people from falling into unaffordable debt.
- Lenders must now direct shoppers who fall into financial difficulty towards debt advice rather than immediately referring them to debt collectors.
- Treasury minister Rachel Blake said the rules deliver promised consumer protections.
Protecting consumers
It is not fair that people using these products have had fewer rights than if they had paid by credit card. These new rules protect the consumer — with proper checks before credit is offered, real rights when things go wrong, and support rather than pressure if someone falls into financial difficulty.
Rachel Blake, economic secretary to the Treasury
How to avoid being blocked
Sara Williams, a former volunteer debt adviser at Citizens Advice who posts tips as Debt Camel on social media, told the BBC just how consumers can avoid being blocked by BNPL lenders.
- Slow down your purchases: If your budget is tight, ensure that what you are buying is essential or see if you can postpone the spending.
- Be more careful about what you buy: Avoid needing a high credit limit to buy lots of clothes in different sizes.
- Cancel subscriptions: Escape the trap of having to use BNPL to make up for the cost of previous payments.
- Talk to debt charities: If you are using BNPL for essentials, speak to charities for help and access to food bank vouchers.
Your quick guide to the US midterms
Americans are heading to the polls for the 2026 midterm elections on 3 November.
In these pivotal elections, voters will decide which party controls Congress for the rest of Donald Trump’s presidency – and the Democrats have high expectations.
What are the midterms?
Midterms allow voters to elect members of Congress – one-third of the Senate and all members of the House of Representatives.
Votes are held in the middle of each four-year presidential term. While the president is not up for election, they are largely a referendum on their party.
The party that controls Congress has the power to shape laws and act as a government watchdog.
Control of Congress up for grabs
Trump’s Republican Party currently has power in the White House and both chambers of Congress – the 435-strong House and the 100-member Senate.
Their majority is slim, but it means they have the power to bring their preferred laws to the floor and have them signed off by Trump.
To win a majority in the Senate, Democrats need to flip four Republican-held seats, while holding on to all their own. In the House, they need a net gain of three seats.
What do the polls tell us so far?
Democratic candidates lead in well over the 218 seats (of 435 total) needed to flip control of the House, polls suggest. They are tied or narrowly ahead in Senate races.
It comes as Trump’s approval ratings hit an all-time low of 32 per cent, according to a September Reuters poll.
Despite this, recent US political history holds many examples of opinion polls being proved wrong. For example, Trump outperformed predictions on his way to White House victories in 2016 and 2024.
What are the key issues?
More than 53 million people, of the total 210 million registered voters, have alreaady cast their ballots by voting early, with more Democrats doing so than Republicans.
There are also signs that Hispanic voters who veered to Trump in 2024 might be returning to Democrats because of frustration over the economy and some of Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics.
- Domestic issues like consumer prices are likely to affect the outcome of many races and could erode support for Republicans.
- Inflation remains above the level targeted by the US Federal Reserve, partly down to the war that the US and Israel started with Iran in February.
- However, immigration and the growing influence of AI and big tech remain high on voters’ minds.
From blockades to impeachment
What it means for Trump
- If the Democrats win either the House or the Senate then Trump will find it difficult to get laws through Congress.
- Democratic control of either chamber would also mean they could use committees to investigate aspects of the Trump presidency.
- Corruption allegations, the controversial new White House ballroom and violent ICE tactics could be subject to scrutiny.
- There is also a debate within the Democratic Party about whether to impeach Trump, which means to bring charges in the House that will form the basis for a political trial in the Senate.
- However, a two-third majority is needed in the Senate for such a trial to be successful, which is highly unlikely.
“I also have a second weekend and evening job to get by. I babysit where I can which gives me an extra £120 a month, along with the small additions I earn from random side jobs.”
Jane says right now she would rather have the “spare cash” which she wants to use to improve her flat but also visit her sister in Australia.
Before buying her flat, Jane was putting in up to £400 a month into a savings account but has not saved since her home purchase.
She added: “I don’t intend for this to be forever. I plan to start paying into my workplace pension again soon, depending on salary increase.
“In my eyes, I’ll have to work for so long in any case – so there’s time to make up for a few years of no payments.”
Jane has some savings but doesn’t want to touch them in case she needs to use them for an emergency.
“This is my biggest concern as a single homeowner – being hit with an unforeseen cost,” she added.
Her grandad has set aside around £50,000 for her which she plans to put towards her retirement.
How young people are missing out
Görkem Barron, a financial planner at Lubbock Fine, crunched the numbers to illustrate how opting out of your pension can make you lose out on vital retirement savings.
Annual salary: £31,512
Total pension contributions: 8 per cent of salary (5 per cent employee + 3 per cent employer)
Salary growth: 3.4 per cent per year
Investment growth: 6 per cent per year
Based on these assumptions, by the age of 40, the person would have missed out on £75,000 worth of savings and £120,000 by the age of 50 if they had opted out of auto-enrolment.
“I also have a private pension but have not put any money into it. I intend to start paying into my workplace pension once I can afford to again – but will prioritise paying into my private one,” Jane said.
She is far from alone. As cost of living pressures continue to squeeze household finances, some people are sacrificing their pensions to free up some extra money.
Research by investment bank Raymond James found 10 per cent of people had stopped contributing to their workplace pension completely in the past 12 months, with a further 7 per cent temporarily pausing their contributions.
Theo Morgan, 24, was putting in £440 a month alongside his employer’s contributions until rising bills meant he had to stop.
Theo, a healthcare specialist from London, said: “My monthly expenses are around £2,200 and cover housing, household bills, food, transport and other commitments.
“When these expenses started to put greater pressure on my finances, maintaining all my financial commitments became increasingly challenging.”
Theo says he has become a lot more conscious of his spending. As a result, he has reduced unnecessary purchases and reassessed his discretionary expenses.
However, he is still trying to save £1,200 per month.
“These adjustments have helped me manage my finances more carefully, although maintaining the same level of savings has become hard,” he explained.
He intends to resume his pension contributions soon and only saw it as a “temporary pause”.
He added: “My goal is to restore consistency in my retirement planning while continuing to meet my immediate financial responsibilities.”
A Freedom of Information request provided by the Department of Work and Pensions for The i Paper previously revealed that between 2020 and 2023 – the latest year for which data is available – the number of those aged between 22 and 29 opting out of their workplace pension scheme rose from 98,000 to 158,000.
According to Raymond James, the reason people were opting out of their workplace pensions was to build their emergency savings pot, go travelling and focus more on saving rather than investing.
Meanwhile, 20 per cent of those who stopped or reduced their contributions did so to help with rising day-to-day living costs.
Prioritising a SIPP
Camden Wallace, who works in customer support, opted out of his workplace pension to focus more on his self-invested personal pension (SIPP) – a scheme that gives you control over how your funds are invested.
The 32-year-old Londoner said: “I already had a SIPP, and I was getting drained monthly from both pensions.”
Camden was contributing £200 each to both of his pensions and did so for about 3 to 4 years before cutting off his workplace pension in March this year.
Since then, he has upped his contributions to his SIPP to £250 a month and now has roughly £2,000 saved.
“I opened a SIPP because I wanted more control over my money. I can decide to not put in money if things are not looking too good one month,” Camden explained.
His monthly expenses come to roughly £1,700 a month and says on top of stopping his workplace pension contributions he also has cut back on eating out and now uses public transport more often.