Where are my pensions now?
- Written by Daniel McGonigle
During your working life it is common to have between 5-7 employers each with different pension schemes and it’s often difficult to keep track with them all. This problem is heightened by many pension providers being taken over or merging with another company.
You’re often faced with not actually knowing who holds your pension let alone what the value is. Often people will have lost the details of their pension if say they have moved country, or you may even have discarded some schemes as you were with an employer for only a short amount of time.
How do I track down my lost pension?
A typical scenario with a client is “I have four pensions through four previous employers and each pension is a different type of scheme. I am up to date with three of them, but have no details on the fourth company. How can I find out what this pension might be worth?”
All too often we don’t bother to track down all our pensions as we feel that it will be worth very little. The fact is that pension benefits from even short periods of employment can run into many thousands of pounds so it’s in your interest to track these pensions down and claim the benefits, after all it’s your money.
So how do you track down a lost pension? The Department for Work and Pensions runs a tracing service, which is the best place to track down a former occupational pension. The phone number is 0044 845 600 2537 or you can visit their website at www.pensionservice.gov.uk .
It’s important that when you take your pension you take the full benefits that you have earned throughout your working life. Also, do not underestimate the importance of your State Pension. For a free forecast visit the same website.
Over the past 2-3 years pension funds have fallen dramatically. Many pension providers offer to switch your money into safer funds as you get closer to retirement. This raises the question “is now the right time to switch or am I better off staying put in the hope the market recovers back to its previous market high?” This method of switching is often referred to as “life-styling” and is designed to protect you pension fund in the event of a big market fall close to retirement. If it is a small fund, you may have other pensions and be able to afford to leave it invested past 65, giving it more time to recover before you need to draw an income. Whether to switch or stay depends on your tolerance to risk and how important this pension is to your overall retirement.
Another option is to transfer the funds into a QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes). This is a hot topic at the moment and has been written about extensively over the last couple of years. You can transfer your pension funds into such a scheme and then you can choose how you drawdown your income from the pension fund. The money can therefore stay invested and can benefit from the market recovery. So you can effectively retire, draw an income from your fund but still benefit from any surge in the market.
It’s important that you claim all the money that you are entitled to from your pension companies. Dig out all the old papers and letters from the various pension providers and insurance companies and contact the company to ensure that they have your present contact details and also ask them for a valuation.
Alternatively talk to a qualified financial advisor such as Worldwidebroker, you can authorise them to talk to your pension providers on your behalf. They can then talk you through all the options available, carry out a detailed analysis of your pension and help to determine whether transferring your pension is right for you.
If you would like more information on QROPS then visit our website and download our free guide at www.theqropsguide.com .
You can contact me Daniel McGonigle, Managing Partner at WorldWidebroker on (+351) 91 279 2998 or daniel@worldwidebroker.pt
W: http://www.worldwidebroker.pt/contact2.html
The financial advisers trading under WorldWideBroker Portugal are members of Nexus Global (IFA Network). Nexus Global is a division of Blacktower Financial Management (International) Limited (BFMI). All approved individual members of Nexus Global are Appointed Representatives of BFMI. BFMI is licenced and regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (FSC) and bound by the rules under licence number FSC00805B.
