If you’ve had more than one job, you almost certainly have more than one pension.
Every time you were auto-enrolled, a pot started. Every time you left, it stayed behind, usually with an old address on file and a login you never set up. A few jobs later, most of us have no idea how many pensions we have, let alone what’s in them.
Around 3.3 million UK pension pots are now classed as lost, worth £31.1 billion between them. The average one holds about £9,470. That’s money you’ve already earned, sitting in an account with your name on it, and nobody is going to post it back to you.
So this week, we’re doing the pension check: finding every pot you’ve ever had, making sure your employer is paying in every pound they’ll give you, and knowing what to check before you move anything. It takes about an hour. (If you read my 25 money lessons on Sunday, this is lesson 14 in practice.)
In this issue:
Why you probably have more pensions than you think
The three questions every pension check answers
How to find every old pot
How to get every pound your employer will give you, with the email to send HR
Five checks before you move anything
The one-page pension sheet, and a worked example
You probably have more pensions than you think
Since 2012, employers have had to enrol you in a workplace pension if you’re 22 or over and earn at least £10,000 a year. It’s brilliant, and it’s also why so many of us have a trail of small pots behind us. The bar job at Uni might not have one. The grad scheme, the agency role and the job you left after 18 months almost certainly do. They go missing for boring reasons: you moved flat, the statements went to a work email you lost, or the company was bought and renamed.
It matters more for women. The government’s own figures put the typical private pension for women aged 55 to 59 at £81,000, against £156,000 for men. A checklist can’t fix the pay gap behind that, but it can make sure every pound you’ve already earned is found and working for you.
The three questions
Where is all of it? Every pot, every provider, every login.
Am I getting every pound my employer will give me? The legal minimum often isn’t the most they’ll pay.
Is each pot somewhere I’d choose? Fair charges, and nothing valuable lost by moving it.
Most people jump straight to the third and combine everything in an afternoon. That’s the order that costs money.
The Frugal Chic® rule: Find every pension pot and claim all of it. Only move what you’ve checked yourself.
