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Learn More About Accessing An Old Pension You No Longer Pay Into & May Not Be Aware You Have......
As we grow older it becomes natural human reaction to yearn for the simplicity of how things used to be. Often with good reason. Pension provision represents a good example here: in decades past it was common for workers to spend entire careers with the same company bringing the ease and the reassurance of mind of a single pension scheme to deal with upon retirement.
For better or for worse, modern working life has evolved into a very different beast altogether and many of us will change our vocations and employers as frequently as we change homes and cars. Indeed, figures from the Office for National Statistics show that about a quarter of under-35s have already worked for about five employers, a similar proportion to those aged 65 now.
Yet even those brief and inconsequential jobs you held decades ago might have brought some sort of pension provision, contributions paid in for the exclusive benefit of you in your latter years. Many of us will accrue numerous smaller pension pots over our working lifetimes and understandably just keeping track of them can throw up an administrative headache.
The confusion that multiple smaller pension pots can cause was borne out by an extensive 2016 YouGov survey undertaken on behalf of the Aviva group. Almost one person in eight (13%) from the 9,910 people surveyed admitted to having at least one pension they had forgotten about. And within that group a significant 23% believed they were in possession of two or more funds whose details had been lost to the sands of time. Unsurprisingly the most common reason that we lose track of this information is through moving house, a stressful event with so many details to attend to that it can be easy to forget to inform our pension providers of our new contact details.
It leaves our working age population in something of a contradictory position: almost three in five adults surveyed in the Financial Lives survey undertaken by the Financial Conduct Authority expressed concern about not having enough money to last them in retirement, while government figures show there’s an estimated £400 million in unclaimed pension savings from more than 2.5 million policies.
The good news is that if you think that you own forgotten or half-remembered pensions then all is not lost - though you should act now as the longer such provisions remain lost then the greater the risks exist that they are not being actively managed and invested in a manner designed to bring you the greatest benefit.
There are several routes open to you. These funds can by traced by contacting your former employers and the pension providers themselves who are obliged to provide you with the information they hold. Another option is to go via the Pension Tracing Service who keep a repository of all funds and will endeavour to connect you to yours, though depending upon the complexity of your past arrangements this can take months. If you feel you would benefit from some expert assistance in getting your pension arrangements in order, Prosperity Financial Solutions has extensive experience in tracing lost pensions and we will happily undertake the work necessary to help you navigate your way through this administrative quandary.
The purpose of this article is to provide technical and generic guidance and should not be interpreted as advice or a personal recommendation.
If you need advice or assistance concerning your frozen pension, or for anything else regarding pensions and other Financial matters, contact our expert team today. We aim to ensure that you are completely satisfied with our service, and will always offer additional advice and assistance. Call us now on 0141 337 1346 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of our team will get right back to you. We look forward to helping you plan your future.
Call 0141 337 1346 Existing clients tel 0141 337