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A recent study has revealed the worrying statistic that over a fifth of all people with multiple pensions have lost track of at least one, with some admitting to have forgotten the details of all of them. With around two thirds of UK residents having more than one pension, this amounts to approximately 6.6 million people with no idea how much they’ve put away for their retirement. Double the amount of people admit to not knowing how much their pensions are worth.

Such disconnect with retirement savings is an undesirable side effect of the modern working world. Whereas in previous generations someone might stay at a single employer for their entire working life, the typical worker today will hold eleven different jobs throughout their career, which could potentially mean opting into the same number of pensions through as many different providers. The new legal requirement for all employers to offer a pension scheme through auto-enrolment is likely to add further complexities.

As a result, the Pensions Dashboard is set to launch in 2019 in the hope that it will make it easier for savers to keep track of their pensions in one place. Until then, however, there are four relatively simple steps to help you track down information on any pensions you’ve forgotten about:

  • Find your pension using the DWP Pensions tracing service at  www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details. Start by entering the name of your former employer to discover the current contact address for them. You’ll then need to write to them providing your name (plus any previous names), your current and previous addresses and your National Insurance number.
  • In the case of a pension scheme which hasn’t been updated for a while, you’ll be required to fill out an online form to receive contact details. You’ll be required to give your name, email address and any relevant information to help track down your pension details. This could include your</li
  • National Insurance number and the dates you worked for the company.
  • You can also receive a forecast of your State pension either online or in paper format by going to www.gov.uk/check-state-pension. After entering a few details to confirm your identity, you’ll be told the date you can access your State pension and how much you’ll receive.
  • Finally, and most importantly, once you’ve managed to track down all of your pension information, get some advice. Consolidating your pensions might be tempting to make managing your savings easier, but you also want to make sure you don’t lose out on any benefits by doing so. Before you make any decisions regarding your pensions, seek professional advice on what to do next.

At Creative Employee Benefits we help thousands of people understand the current, and expected future, value of their cumulative pension savings, including all employed and self-employed arrangements, plus the valuable State Pension benefits. Using engaging projection tools we can help illustrate the potential benefit of consolidation or changing the level of current contributions, as well as the impacts of early, or late, retirement. With regulated advice on the best routes forward for individuals based on their own unique positions we help employees make informed and appropriate decisions associated to their retirement plans.

If you feel that your employees would benefit from access to such sessions then please contact your normal Creative consultant, or contact us oninfo@creativeeb.co.uk

Sources
https://www.independent.co.uk/money/modern-careers-risk-billions-in-lost-retirement-savings-a7545091.html

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