Lost pension pots looks set to become a "national crisis" as £50billion worth of retirement savings are at risk of being lost.
An estimated 4.8million pension pots are already classed as missing in the UK and according to a study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) nearly one in 10 workers believe they could have lost a pension pot worth more than £10,000
This is only set to worsen with PensionBee warning that a "national crisis" could be ahead as the total number of UK pension pots is expected to rise 130% from 106million to 243 million by 2050. This is due to more people changing jobs and automatically enrolling on their new workplace pensions, so there is more risk of retirement pots getting lost.
The research carried out on behalf of PensionBee, found that younger workers (age 18) are set to, on average, have five pension pots by the age of 68. But some workers can end up with as many as 20 different pots to keep track of. The report found that thousands of younger workers under the age of 35 have accrued a higher average number of pensions of 2.4 than mid-career worker aged 35 to 54 years old at 2.1 despite a shorter career history. - this is significantly more than older workers aged 55 plus at 1.7.
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Becky O’Connor, director of public affairs at PensionBee said: “The amount of money lost track of in old pensions is already eye-watering, with more than £50billion already at risk of being left behind, but is set to reach national crisis levels over the coming years, as the number of pots accumulated through work rises and with it, the number of lost pensions. This research suggests the problem of lost pots is growing more urgent every year. The Government is working on a number of solutions to help solve it, including pension dashboards and new "pot for life" proposals."
The pot for life would allow a person to instruct their employer to pay their contributions into an existing pension pot. Becky urged pension savers to keep track of their retirement funds adding: "For anyone who loses track of pensions, the result can, unfortunately, be a poorer retirement.
"It’s important to keep track of old paperwork, employer and pension provider names and policy numbers and if you would prefer to keep pensions together, consider consolidating them in one place.”
How to track down a 'lost' pension
To track down old pension pots, the first thing you need to do is contact ex-employers and dig out old paperwork. However, if this isn't possible, then the Government has a free Pension Tracing Service tool to track down lost pensions on its website.
It is a free service which searches a database of more than 300,000 workplace and personal pension schemes. To use it, you will need the name of an employer or a pension provider. If you find an old pension pot then the service provides contact details for pension schemes run by employers, as well as for private schemes organised by pension providers.
You will only be able to get the details of your pension savings once a pension firm has established you are who you say you are, and that you have a pension pot with them. The service will not tell you how much you have in this particular pension pot, you will need to contact the pension administrator yourself to find out if you have any money with them. You can use the Pension Tracing Service through the GOV.UK website here. You can also call them on 0800 731 019.
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