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Pension Tracing Day is not as spooky as it sounds
Pension Tracing Day is not as spooky as it sounds
The 31st of October isn’t just Halloween and the chance to be tricked or treated. It’s also National Pension Tracing Day.
A day where we all come to the terrifying and spooky realisation that, somewhere, treats of £20 billion worth of people’s pension pots sit lost and forgotten. Pension Tracing Day is an initiative urging people to find those forgotten funds during the extra hour we get when the clocks go back.
Maybe your pension slipped through the cracks when you last moved house. Or maybe it vanished, never to be seen again, when you started your new job. Money does pull a good disappearing act. But unlike Dracula, it’ll be easy and simple to find this Halloween.
And it’s worth the hour it takes because it’s your money, it’s free, and it’s your future. It’s not too tricky if you know who your pension provider is, just contact them directly and provide your name, date of birth, national insurance number, pension policy number, and some relevant dates about when the pension was set up or when you last contributed some money.
If you can’t remember who your pension provider is, then hope is not lost. All it takes is a simple call to your old employer, or a quick flick through old bank statements. After all, your pension provider is obligated to send you an annual statement.
And if you need that little bit of extra help, there’s even a free government tool called the Pension Tracing Service that will provide you with all the information you need.
So when the clocks go back on National Pension Tracing Day, use that extra hour to find an old, forgotten pension. And now that you know where it is, you can decide what to do next. You could combine your pensions (if it makes sense to do so) or keep it where it is. Or, better yet, speak to a financial advisor to really make the most of your rediscovered cash.
The Department for Work and Pensions have predicted that, by 2050, as many as 50 million pensions will have been lost. So don’t let yours stay forgotten for good. You can always use an extra hour to find some extra money. And who knows, maybe the most shocking thing this Halloween will be discovering a lot of money you didn’t know you had. What a treat!
If you’d like thorough step-by-step help so that you can finally track down those old pension pots, contact the Pension Tracing Service 0800 731 0193, or click here to visit the website.