Category: Retirement

Helping you take full control of your retirement savings

People change jobs, employers change their names but, more importantly, we all forget things from time to time. With that in mind, it is easy to lose track of pensions that you have paid into over the years.

If you do not actively look for your lost pensions, then you take the risk of relying on them looking for you! This can be difficult for them to do if, for example, you have changed your name through marriage or moved home yourself.

To locate a lost or forgotten pension you can contact The Pension Tracing Service, part of The Pension Service. They have details of more than 200,000 personal and company pension schemes and will search through these free of charge on your behalf.

For the best chance of being reunited with a lost scheme, you need to provide as much information as possible. This can include the type of scheme; the name of the employer, and any new name it may have, and the nature of its business; the name of the pension company; and when you belonged to the scheme.

Once located, they will provide you with the latest contact details to help you track it down and take full control of your retirement savings

Not saving enough for retirement is the biggest financial regret among those aged 55 or over (today’s baby boomers), according to the findings of an annual online survey from Standard Life by YouGov Plc. Nearly one in five (18%) baby boomers said they wish they’d started saving for their retirement when they were younger.

The top five biggest financial regrets for baby boomers – they wished they had:

1. Saved for retirement earlier (18%)
2. Avoided running up debt on credit cards or store cards (16%)
3. Set and stuck to a budget (6%)
4. Spent less on nights out and saved more in general (5%)
5. Invested in a Stocks & Shares ISA (5%)

Approaching retirement
But while the biggest regret for those approaching retirement is their lack of savings, the biggest regret for all other generations is running up debt on credit and store cards. Those aged 35–44 are most likely to have this as their number one financial regret (21%), while just 12% of 18–24-year-olds had it as number one, alongside wishing they had spent less on nights out and saved more.

Wake-up call 
This research will be a wake-up call to the many people who aren’t saving enough for when they retire. The value in starting to save early is clear in terms of increased potential for growth. We also know from previous research that parents often find they need to de-prioritise their own saving when they are older, to help support their adult children with large expenditure such as university fees and deposits for their first homes. So trying to close up a savings gap later on in life can be really tricky.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size for the 2014 survey was 2,591 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 5–7 March 2014. The surveys were carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

INFORMATION IS BASED ON OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF TAXATION LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS. ANY LEVELS AND BASES OF, AND RELIEFS FROM TAXATION, ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

A PENSION IS A LONG TERM INVESTMENT THE FUND VALUE MAY FLUCTUATE AND CAN GO DOWN. YOUR EVENTUAL INCOME MAY DEPEND UPON THE SIZE OF THE FUND AT RETIREMENT, FUTURE INTEREST RATES AND TAX LEGISLATION.

Do you know how much your pension is worth? Do you know how many you have or where they are? How about the type of funds they’re invested in or how much risk is involved?

I f the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’, you need to take stock and plan to review your pension at least once a year and every time your personal circumstances change. Make sure your pension is on track to grow enough to support you in retirement.

Almost three quarters of under 45s with pensions have no idea what their pension pots are currently worth. And nearly 80% say they don’t know what income they are expecting when they retire.

Run-up to retirement 
The YouGov research shows that many people don’t really know the value of their pension until they are older and in the run-up to retirement, despite the fact that they’re likely to be receiving annual pension statements.

Alongside your home, your retirement savings are likely to be one of your biggest assets. So by not keeping track of the value of your pension pots and how they are performing, you may be missing out on opportunities to take action and really are leaving yourself vulnerable at a later age.

Multiple pension pots
Keeping track of pension values is not helped by having more than one pension plan, perhaps built up over time as you move jobs. The research highlighted that 43% of people in the UK with pensions have two plans or more. Having multiple pension pots may make it more difficult for some people to get a clear picture of their total value. It could also be a reason for losing touch with a pension provider.

Managing retirement savings
Consolidating your pensions into a single pot could help and, if appropriate, may be something to consider. By the time you have been working for a number of years, you may have accumulated a number of different pensions from previous employers, and it can be hard to keep track of these pots. Having all these separate pension pots may not be the most efficient way of managing your retirement savings. Pension consolidation involves bringing all of your separate pension plans together and combining them into one single pension pot, although care is required.

Professional financial advice 
But before moving your existing pensions, you should always obtain professional financial advice to make sure you are not giving up important benefits, such as defined benefits, ‘with profits’ bonuses, guaranteed annuity rates or enhanced tax-free cash.

Pension consolidation means that you would have only one provider to keep in touch with and one annual statement to look at and review. Potentially it can also mean paying lower charges and possibly having greater choice and buying power when you come to retire too. If you eventually purchase an annuity, you may also be able to obtain a better rate if your money is all in one pension pot.

Source:
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 2,018 adults, of which 1,361 have a pension. Fieldwork was undertaken between 9–12 August 2013.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

INFORMATION IS BASED ON OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF TAXATION LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS. ANY LEVELS AND BASES OF, AND RELIEFS FROM, TAXATION ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT A RELIABLE INDICATOR OF FUTURE PERORMANCE.

A PENSION IS A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT. THE FUND VALUE MAY FLUCTUATE AND CAN GO DOWN. YOUR EVENTUAL INCOME MAY DEPEND UPON THE SIZE OF THE FUND AT RETIREMENT, FUTURE INTEREST RATES AND TAX LEGISLATION.