26 October is National Pension Tracing Day in the UK. Before you look away thinking this isn’t relevant to you, consider this: there’s a strong chance that you’ve lost track of retirement savings without even realising it.
In fact, the Pensions Policy Institute estimates that there are roughly 3.3 million lost pots, with missing assets worth approximately £31.1 billion. It also indicates that Brits aged between 55 and 75 are likely to have lost an average of £13,620 worth of retirement savings.
Various reports suggest that, on average, people have 12 different jobs during their working lives.
If you’ve had multiple employers and spent time as a high-earning expat, your career may have spanned different continents. This makes it more likely that some of your pension savings could have been overlooked.
This could be the ideal time to think over your career and consider if you may indeed have lost a pension (or more).
Track and trace your lost pension savings in 3 simple steps
Step 1: Plot your career path
Think back through your career and list all the jobs you’ve held. Be thorough and include part-time or temporary roles.
If you’re struggling to remember every position, look up your old CVs or dig out old payslips and employment contracts. Note down employer names, dates of employment, and any pension scheme details.
Your pension provider(s) should send annual statements, so review any paperwork or old emails you’ve kept. This could help you work out when you might have lost track of your pot.
If you set up a personal pension, look for past statements or bank records showing contributions.
As an expat, you may have a chequered history of irregular pension contributions or been eligible for state retirement schemes. It may pay to speak to your accountant in case they have records that might help you get a clear picture of what you have and where.
Step 2: Match your pensions to your jobs
With a list of where you’ve worked and when, match employers to possible pension arrangements.
Try to link pension paperwork with the right employer.
If there are gaps, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve lost a pension – you might simply have opted out or contributed to a personal pension instead. If in doubt, further investigation could help put your mind at ease – again, a conversation with an accountant or financial planner could help here.
Step 3: Contact your previous providers
Next, contact all your past pension scheme providers to check whether you still have funds with them.
Before calling or writing to your provider, make sure you’re ready to share your date of birth and National Insurance number (or similar government ID). Where possible, also provide the pension reference number or dates you believe you were contributing to the scheme in question.
This should help speed up the process and make it easier for the provider to confirm whether a pension is held in your name and what it’s worth.
Consider consolidating all your retirement savings into one easy-to-manage arrangement
Once you’ve tracked all your pensions, you might want to consider consolidating all your plans into a single arrangement.
There are several advantages of this. For example:
• A single plan is easier to manage – you’ll only need to keep track of one set of paperwork.
• It provides a clear overview of your pension savings, making retirement planning far more straightforward.
• You could save money, since older schemes often charge hefty fees and moving funds could result in you making substantial savings.
Additionally, compound returns could mean your dormant pots are more valuable than you think.
Capture missing value – lost pension pots won’t have sat idle
Time can be a valuable tool when working to build your retirement savings. This is because of the potential growth you could see from compound returns.
Over years or decades, this compound growth could greatly increase the value of your pot.
For example, if you had S$20,000 (£11,500) invested in a lost pension from 20 years ago – compounded annually at 5% – it would be worth more than S$53,000 (£30,500) today.
This is just an example, but the same is true for small sums, too. Even the smallest of contributions, given an appropriate amount of time, can grow significantly.
Seek advice from a professional financial planner before you act
Consolidating isn’t always the best option for everyone.
You could forfeit guaranteed benefits from current schemes or lose access to low charges negotiated by a previous scheme administrator.
If you’re planning to transfer multiple pensions overseas, we can help you understand all your options.
Whether you’d like to learn more about consolidating your pensions or wish to transfer your retirement savings overseas, we’re here to help.
