One in six workers say they have lost track of pensions when they moved jobs – and few have any idea of how much their combined pension funds are worth.
Lost pensions: What's the value of your retirement pot?
One in six workers say they have lost track of pensions when they moved jobs – and few have any idea of how much their combined pension funds are worth.
As few of us stay in the same job for all our lives any longer, it can mean that keeping up with the pensions we've built up with different employers can be difficult.
But losing track of past pensions could seriously impact on your future retirement income. A survey by the Prudential states one in six employees claim to have lost track on past pensions when they have moved jobs.
The research also found that while interviewees aged 55 or over had just five different jobs over the whole of their careers, those aged 18 to 34 have already typically had three different full time jobs.
Keep track
Stan Russell, retirement expert at Prudential, added: "Keeping track of pension savings at every age is important but it is even more crucial for younger workers, who are likely to switch jobs more often, to actively manage this process."
As a further sign of the worrying complacency some of us have about losing track of pensions, the survey found that 76% of respondents had no idea of the value of the company pension pots they have built up over their careers.
Workers who do know the value of their combined pension pots say they have built up an overall fund worth £110,207 on average over their working lives. However, men believe they have built up pension savings totalling £154,094, whereas women estimate they have saved only £50,512.
Stay put
The survey also found that 81% of workers don't transfer their pension from previous employers to their new workplaces while 15% relied on their new employers to make the switch.
However, it's not always a good idea to transfer past pension to new schemes as you could lose vital and valuable benefits if you do so. This is particularly the case if in your old job you had a final salary pension scheme but your new employer has a money purchase scheme.
To be on the safe side, never transfer past company pension entitlements without taking independent financial advice.
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Quick tips
- Use the government's Pensions Tracing Service if you need to track down a past pension
- You should get an annual statement from each of your pension plan trustees telling you what pension you can expect
- The government's auto-enrolment into employer pension schemes starts being rolled out from this autumn
You can take your existing pension pots with you to a new employer if they use the new National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) pension scheme