In today’s world, where you can find out what your ex had for breakfast through social media faster than you can track down your own pension, it seems a staggering 79% of Brits have no idea how to retrieve their lost retirement pots. Yes, almost 4 in 5 of us are wandering through life with money potentially sitting in some forgotten pension account, blissfully unaware. Why? Well, because it’s tricky, isn’t it? Who’s got the time to keep track of a dozen pension schemes over a lifetime of job hopping?
But here’s the kicker: the average person believes they’ve got about £13,303 across three forgotten pensions. That’s not small change. Still, a casual 18% of us think there’s plenty of time to deal with it later – like during a midlife crisis or perhaps while balancing a stack of late-life crisis leaflets.
Now, before you let the panic set in and start furiously Googling "pension consolidators," let me tell you what those shiny ads aren’t. They’ll eagerly offer to gather all your pension pots – for a fee, of course. It’s less “let us help you” and more “let us hoover up your savings, add some fees, and watch the value dwindle before your very eyes.”
Here’s the big secret: You don’t need to fork out your hard-earned cash for someone else to trace your pension. There’s a free, government-backed pension tracing service that will help you track down those long-lost accounts, and it won’t cost you a penny. You just pop your old employers’ details into the system, and voila – a list of pension schemes you might have contributed to is yours.
The Pensions Policy Institute estimates there are about 2.8 million lost pension pots worth a staggering £26.6 billion just sitting around, gathering dust. With a bit of effort – and by “bit of effort,” I mean using a free online service – that forgotten money could be back in your hands. Maybe not all £26.6 billion, but your share of it.
And here’s another fun fact: apparently, 74% of people will inform their bank if they change their address, but only 15% will bother letting their pension provider know. Makes sense, right? Who cares about where your retirement money is going as long as the lights stay on.
So, before you hand over control of your pension to a friendly, fee-hungry adviser, why not give the government’s Pension Tracing Service a try? It’s free, it’s easy, and it’s all online.
Plus, you’ll get to avoid that awkward moment when your adviser explains that consolidating your pension comes with “minor” fees. Spoiler alert: They’re not that minor.
Save your cash, save your pension, and for goodness’ sake, keep those details somewhere safe this time. You might not know where all your pensions are, but you know where your phone charger is. Start there.
You can start tracing your pension here: www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details.
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