Are you missing some retirement income? Here’s how to track it down

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The amount you manage to save will decide the kind of life you’ll be able to live in retirement. That’s why it’s important to keep track of every penny. Find out how to make sure you’ve got eyes on all of your retirement income. 

Do you have some past pensions?

You’ll usually get a new pension plan opened for you every time you start a new job. So, chances are, you’ve probably had more than one pension in your lifetime. And, since the average person has 12 jobs in their lifetime, they can easily pile up. 

The problem is: they’re easy to lose track of too. If you move on to a new job with a new pension, you can quickly forget about the one you had before. And you could end up with your pension savings spread out when it’s time to retire.

There are billions out there waiting to be claimed

There’s currently over £26 billion sitting in lost pensions, with the average pot worth over £9,000. 

Even if just one of your old pensions is worth that amount, it could fund a good chunk of a year in retirement. And if you’ve lost track of more than one, you could be missing out on a big portion of your retirement income.

Tracking down your old plans

It can be easier than you think to track down your old pension plans. All you need is your National Insurance number and some information about your old employers. Then you can use the government’s Pension Tracing Service to find out all you need to know.

Think about bringing your old plans together

If you find you’ve got a few old plans out there, it can be worth thinking about bringing them into one place. It can make it easier to keep track of everything - and can make accessing your pension savings simpler. 

Combining pensions isn’t right for everyone though. It’s best to check you won’t lose any valuable guarantees or benefits by transferring any old pensions.

If you want to find out more about pension transfers, including the pros and cons, you can read our pension transfer guide. 

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The information here is based on our understanding in February 2023 and shouldn’t be taken as financial advice.

Standard Life accepts no responsibility for information in external websites. These are provided for general information.

A pension is an investment and its value can go down as well as up and may be worth less than was paid in.