In the past people often spent their whole working life with one organisation but today  the average person has around 12 jobs during their lifetime.

And often when people change jobs, they may have pension pots left behind that they forget about. Since 2012  employers have had to automatically enrol their employees aged over 22 and earning £10,000 pa or more  into a pension scheme. There is every likelihood that there are some funds somewhere just looking for a home. The Pension Policy Institute estimates that there is £26 billion sitting in what are called ghost pensions.

If you think you may have some missing pension money here is a check list of what you can do:

  1. First make a list of all the organisations you have worked for.
  2. Look for any paperwork you may have about pensions – Organisations often send out annual updates on schemes, but you may have moved and not told them of your address.
  3. Contact any organisations you feel you may have a pension with providing any employee reference you may have or, if not, your National Insurance number.
  4. Contact the Government’s Find My Pension Service. It can’t tell you if you have a pension pot but if you provide the organisation’s name it will tell you who to contact to investigate further. 

    You can reach the Government’s Find My Pension Service here:

https://www.findpensioncontacts.service.gov.uk/

If you do find a pension pot from a previous employer, what can you do with it?

  1. Leave it where it is, keep in touch and take a pension when you retire.
  2. Transfer the funds into another pension you have to consolidate your pension savings.
  3. If it’s a pot of less than £10,000 you may be able to withdraw the funds if you are over 55. You will be able to get 25% tax free but will have to pay tax on the balance.