Bonuses and match fees are part and parcel of a professional rugby career.
Alongside your basic salary, you may receive additional payments for team and individual performance, winning competitions, or achieving specific targets.
You may also have other opportunities to earn additional income through sponsorships and commercial arrangements.
These payments can make a significant difference to your overall earnings, so how you use them can be an important part of your long-term financial planning.
You need a clear plan of what to do with bonuses and extra income
Your professional rugby career can provide you with a high income over a relatively short period.
Used effectively, bonuses and other lump sums can help you build substantial wealth and improve your financial security long after you stop playing.
Without a plan, however, they can easily disappear into day-to-day spending without meaningfully improving your long-term position.
Putting a bonus or match fee into your pension can make sense. Pension contributions can provide tax relief and help you invest for the future. Also, because you generally cannot access pension savings until later in life, this can reduce the temptation to spend the money.
But before automatically paying your next bonus into your pension, you should ask yourself these five questions.
1. How much of your pension Annual Allowance do you have available?
If you are already making significant pension contributions, another important question is how much Annual Allowance you have available.
You can generally contribute up to 100% of your relevant UK earnings to pensions each tax year while benefiting from tax relief. You may also trigger an additional tax charge if you exceed the Annual Allowance of £60,000 (as of 2026/27). This includes relevant contributions made by your club, so it is important to look at the total rather than just your personal payments.
However, once you have used your Annual Allowance for the current year, carry forward rules can potentially allow you to use unused allowance from up to three previous tax years, subject to the relevant conditions.
This can be particularly useful as a professional rugby player because your income may vary considerably between seasons. A large bonus in one year could create an opportunity to make a substantial pension contribution, but you first need to establish how much allowance you actually have available.
Checking your position before contributing can help you avoid an unexpected tax charge.
2. Do you have expensive debt to clear?
Sometimes the best use of extra income is to address an existing financial problem.
If you have expensive borrowing, such as credit card debt or high-interest personal loans, clearing some or all of it could be worth considering before making additional pension contributions.
Reducing expensive debt can lower your future interest costs and monthly financial commitments.
This does not mean you should clear every type of borrowing before investing. A mortgage, for example, differs greatly from expensive unsecured debt.
The important thing is to consider your overall financial position. There is little benefit in building your pension or investing your money while expensive debt continues to be a burden.
3. Do you have enough in your emergency fund?
Professional rugby can provide an excellent income, but your earning capacity is not necessarily predictable.
Your pension could fund your second retirement, but you may need to access your savings well before then, so having an accessible sum on hand can be an important part of your financial plan.
As a result, before putting a large bonus into your pension, you should consider whether you have enough cash available to cover unexpected expenses or a period when your income is lower than expected.
4. Do you have any imminent financial commitments?
Before you decide how to allocate your bonus, think about what is coming up over the next few years.
Perhaps you are planning to buy a home, start a family, or make another significant purchase. You may also have a large tax bill, relocation costs, or other financial commitments approaching.
If you know you will need a substantial amount of money in the short- or medium-term, locking it away in a pension may not be appropriate.
Instead of looking at each bonus or match fee in isolation, consider your expected income, expenditure, and major financial commitments over the coming years.
5. Could the money help fund your second career?
As a professional rugby player, the end of your playing career will come well before the end of your working life, so you need to know what happens after you stop playing.
You might want to stay in the game and move into coaching or broadcasting. Alternatively, you may decide to start a business or build a career outside sport.
Having capital available when your playing career ends could give you the financial freedom to pursue those opportunities.
You may therefore want to ensure you have accessible savings or investments you can use when you eventually hang up your boots.
Make every bonus work for you
Your rugby career can provide an opportunity to build significant wealth, but the earnings window is relatively short.
That makes the way you manage bonuses, match fees, and other lump sums particularly important.
Contributing to your pension can be an excellent strategy, but it is only one part of the picture, and you should consider the issues you have read about here before deciding how to spend the money.
Get in touch
If you would like to talk to us about what to do with your bonuses, match fees, and other lump sums, please get in touch.
Email enquiries@dbl-am.com or call 01625 529499 to speak to us today.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at individuals only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article. All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC legislation, which is subject to change.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax planning.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which may affect the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.