Here’s a scary thought for you, this Halloween.
Somewhere out there may be a pot of gold, possibly worth
thousands of pounds, with your name on it. If you can’t find it, you’ve lost it
forever.
This Sunday, 31st October 2021, the streets will be full of
people out trick or treating, collecting bags full of sweeties.
The organizers of the first ever National Pension Tracing
Day hope that you’ll also use the day to begin searching for something much more
valuable than candies.
They want you to start looking for that lost pot of gold
with your name on it - otherwise known as a pension that your employer paid
into years ago, but that you’ve lost track of.
Right now there’s believed to be over £19 billion in those
lost pots of gold. The average value of each pot is £13,000. That’s real money,
sitting in Pension Funds that have become
disconnected from people like you.
If missing out on thousands of pounds that are rightfully
yours is a scary thought, use this National Pension Tracing Day as a prompt to
take action.
Blow the
cobwebs off your employment history
“Think of it like buried treasure,” said one of the people
who initiated National Pension Tracing Day.
And they’re right - that’s just what it is. Years ago one of
your old employers may have buried treasure on your behalf. They may have given
you a map, in the form of some rather dull paperwork, but you’ve lost it.
That happens a lot. And it’s happening more often, now that
more and more employers are paying into pensions for their staff.
The Department for Work and Pensions calculates that as many
as 50 million pensions could become lost in the coming years. That’s 50 million
treasure troves, waiting to be discovered.
Does one of them belong to you? It’s time to blow the
cobwebs off your job history and start searching for what might be out there
for you.
How could
I lose something so valuable?
It may seem incredible that so many people have lost track
of cash that could make a real difference to their retirement years. Imagine
what a few hundred pounds every month, for life, could pay for? It would cover
a host of household expenses, giving you more cash for the little luxuries in
life.
If you think it’s unlikely that anyone could forget about
being entitled to this money, remember there’s over £19 billion already waiting
to be claimed.
How did it become lost? It’s surprisingly easy. You move
house and you forget to inform the pension provider. Easily done when
the pension relates to a job you left years before.
Maybe you’ve mislaid the paperwork that you were given when
you left that job, because it wasn’t clear to you what it meant. Unfortunately,
older pension documents don’t usually carry big, bold messages saying, “Don’t
lose this - it’s worth a lot in the future.”
It’s surprisingly easy to lose track of an old pension.
Which is why there’s a need for a National Pension Tracing Day?
What’s
worth more - trick or treat, or pursuing a pension?
Here are some more scary Halloween thoughts.
Four out of ten people have never bothered to look for old pensions
they may be entitled to.
A quarter of those people will never bother, because they
think it’s too much hassle!
All these people are ignoring the chance to claim money
that’s rightfully theirs. Money that could make a significant difference to the
comfort of their retirement.
Those billions in ‘lost’ pension funds aren’t actually lost.
The cash is sitting in the bank accounts of pension companies. Those companies
want to reconnect that money with those it belongs to. That could include you.
Whether or not you’re giving some time to trick or treating
this Halloween, you should seriously consider giving some time to starting a
search for your possible lost pension.
The organisers of the National Pension Tracing Day have even
given you some extra time to do that. They’ve selected the only day in the year
with 25 hours, because it’s the day the clocks go backward. That’s an hour you
can invest in treasure hunting.
Start your
pension treasure hunt today
If all these lost pensions are like buried treasure, where
do you get a treasure map?
You can start by looking through any old paperwork from your
old employers. There could be some clues in there.
Alternatively, you can try an online pension tracing
service. The government has launched a free service to help you on your way.
The service helps you find contact details for a lost pension. Click here to
start the process.
Another option is the Money Helper service from the Money
and Pensions Service. They provide a useful step by step guide to tracing and
finding lost pensions. Click here to access this free online service.
Raindrop also offers a pension finding service, to help you
reconnect to that company or personal pension that you've lost track of. The
service makes it easy for you to rediscover money that’s sitting out there with
your name on it. We also combine those pensions into your overall pot, ensuring
that you won’t lose track again, because they are all in one place.
Once your pensions are combined, there is an all-in annual
management fee like any other UK pension provider. You can read more about our
fees here.
We will ask you to set up an email address and password, so
we can keep you informed about the results from using our pension finding
service via email and in your personal online dashboard.
As with all investing, capital is at risk. Ref: 6487
*****Capital at Risk*****
