How do you track down old pensions?
The odds are stacked against women when it comes to economic equality and financial empowerment. And it doesn't help that financial institutions largely exclude women. The whole system needs an overhaul, but in the meantime we want to answer your money, finance and economics questions. Every week we'll answer one of your questions in a useful and straightforward way. Today's question is...
How do you track down old pensions?
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If you weren’t interested in pensions in your early 20s - like most of us - there is a chance that there may be some schemes you’ve paid into in your old job that you’re not even sure about. Apparently, nearly one in five people will lose track of a pension pot.
But that’s OK because there are easy ways to track those down.
The first step is going through any old paperwork, because you might have actually received documents from your pension provider but just put it aside. If you can’t find anything, then calling up your old employer (if you're on good terms) and asking them who they use as a pension provider is a good next step.
Tell them when you left the company because they may have changed providers since then. If you don't want to or can't call here is a link to letter templates you can use to track your pension.
Then you can contact the pension provider. Give them as much detail as possible so they can track down your pension. So things like your National Insurance Number, the date your pension was set up and if you have the pension plan number.
If neither of these work, for example if your previous company no longer exists, you can always go to the government’s free Pensions Tracing Service.
FYI: This week we spoke to the team behind the Good Future Project, who are investigating how women think about and plan for their financial future. They are conducting a five minute survey, which anyone can fill, and they’re also interviewing women over 40. For every participant they are donating money to support Afghan women journalists. The results come out in November. You can find out more on their website.
About us
Selin and Nat are financial journalists who met working together at a publication in London. If you are ever worried a question you have might sound stupid, Selin constantly asks Nat how to set up Zooms.
Got a question to ask? Send it to selinandnat@gmail.com and we'll try to answer it in an upcoming newsletter. All questions are anonymous. Follow us on Instagram @rebalancing_act.
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