Start Retirement Planning At 50

Start Retirement Planning At 50 And Find Your Lost Pensions !

I have started retirement planning as I have just under 10 years left to work and it has got me thinking about many things and one in particular was finding lost pensions.

According to the latest research we will average around 11 jobs in our working life, and often lose track of the pension schemes we have paid into. Remember that if you have paid into a pension scheme you are entitled to your money by law.

Personal Pension Scheme

I remember that during the late 70s I had a personal pension scheme, then over a period of years worked for several different companies and paid into their schemes, worked in the Public Sector and paid into their scheme and am currently paying into the Teachers Pension Scheme and how does that fit into my retirement planning.

Nowhere near 11 different jobs, and for me not a great deal in the combined pension schemes as I have mentioned in a previous blog will only provide me with about half my current annual salary as a pension.

Pension Tracing Service

But I did find something about retirement planning that you as a Baby Boomer and on the way to your own retirement may find useful. I found out about a free Pension Tracing Service in the UK.

A new Government Department of Work and Pensions website was launched in May 2016 to help people locate their lost pension savings and it is estimated that there is around £400 million of unclaimed pension savings in the UK right now.

Recent pension reforms have provided greater freedom and flexibility over pensons and savings, and this has led to increased demands for the Pension Tracing Service.

Free Online Service

Baroness Ros Altmann Minister for Pensions said: "I would encourage anyone who thinks they may be missing out on any savings to use the free online service."

Here is the link to the website: www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details.

The service is easy to use and provides results immediately. You can enter your former employers details into the online database and contact details for pension schemes they may have paid into will be provided for you.

Statistics have shown that 83% of those who visited the website were satisfied or very satisfied with the service available.

Tracing Requests

In 2015/16 a total of 169,000 tracing requests were received via the online service, agent referred, telephone and postal channels with a 4-fold increase in requests over the past 10 years.

So go ahead and check out the Pension Tracing Service and see how much you can recover to include in your retirement planning.

And let me know how you get on - tell us how it worked for you and pass on any tips you may have.

Wishing you a happy retirement,

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