This year’s National Pension Tracing Day falls on 26 October. It’s the perfect time to re-engage with your retirement plan and find the pension pots you may have forgotten about or “lost”.
There are an estimated 3.3 million lost or forgotten pension pots currently held by UK savers, worth £9,500 on average. That’s a total of £31.1 billion waiting to be recovered.
Keep reading to learn how to find your lost pensions, and why you should.
You can use the government website to start your search for lost pension plans
You might begin by organising your paperwork – digging out old quotations and valuations – and matching them to pensions you’re still paying into or receiving income from.
This is a really useful process, helping you order your documents, which can save time and stress further down the line.
You might also find evidence of “lost” pensions.
If you uncover paperwork that you can’t match with a current pension, try contacting the provider. If the plan is old, you might find that the company has ceased to operate or has been bought out by a larger umbrella firm.
This is where the government’s Pension Tracing Service can help. Enter the details you have – of pension schemes or providers – and it will search for up-to-date contact details for those companies.
Even if you don’t find any relevant paperwork, the process itself might trigger a memory and allow you to begin a search. This might be based on a former job that you know came with a pension attached, or a memory of a company takeover.
Whatever sparks your search, use the government website to find contact details and get in touch.
Finding lost pensions can help you to re-engage with your retirement or allow you to be more flexible with the money you have
Once you’ve found your lost pensions, you can organise for valuations and quotations to be sent, as well as more specific details of ongoing charges or available funds.
The older plans you find might have high annual management charges or ongoing fees that are eating into your pot. They might have fewer fund choices than the more recent plans you hold, or limited flexibility. Modern pensions might allow you to make changes via online portals, for example, or offer sustainable fund options.
Conversely, older plans might have certain valuable guarantees attached, like guaranteed minimum pensions, guaranteed annuity rates, or favourable death benefits beyond those offered by your newer plans.
You’ll need to weigh all of these things up, so having all the available information is key. The extra money could allow you to be more flexible with the pension income you already receive. Or you might consolidate your lost pots with newer ones.
There are pros and cons to this.
Finding lost pensions might allow you to consolidate smaller pots, but you’ll need to think carefully before you do
Consolidating smaller pensions into one large pot has some benefits.
You’ll only have one company to deal with. That likely means one policy number, one set of contact details, and one valuation or quotation to request, which shows your complete financial position.
This can save time and stress when retirement arrives, making it easier to navigate often complex retirement options.
We’ve also spoken about the potential limitations of older plans. They might provide poor value due to ongoing fees or lack the flexibility you need to retire your way.
Equally, however, you’ll need to check if there are charges to transfer your plan away. Where smaller pots are concerned, transfer fees might outweigh the benefit of a move. You might also lose valuable benefits that newer plans don’t have, and you’ll need to calculate the value of these.
Your provider can help here by giving you a quotation based on various retirement options, or you can contact us.
Finally, there are tax implications to consider. Consolidating your plans into one pot could mean large monthly withdrawals, which might push you into a higher tax bracket or result in a substantial emergency tax bill. You can usually reclaim this, but the process can be lengthy, so you’ll need to factor that into your budgeting.
Get in touch
Please email hello@globeifa.co.uk or call us on 020 8891 0711 to discuss how Globe IFA’s expert financial advisors can help you manage your lost pensions and your long-term financial plans.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
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 would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.
Workplace pensions are regulated by The Pensions Regulator.
