Martin Lewis has issued an urgent warning to millions of workers, urging them to check for forgotten pension pots. The Money Saving Expert founder revealed that some individuals have uncovered retirement savings exceeding £100,000 after losing track of old workplace pensions.
Why Checking Pensions Is Critical
Speaking on his BBC podcast, Lewis explained that people who have changed jobs multiple times often accumulate several workplace pensions but frequently lose track of them. He stressed that checking these pensions should be a priority for anyone who has worked for different employers.
Lewis said: "If you've had lots of different jobs, you will have lots of different pensions. You absolutely do need to keep track of it." He warned that changing jobs frequently makes it easy to misplace paperwork related to old pension schemes, leaving many savers unaware of their accumulated funds.
Real-Life Discoveries of Significant Savings
According to Lewis, a lost pension does not mean the money has vanished. He regularly hears from people astonished to find substantial retirement savings they had forgotten about decades earlier.
"I often get messages from people who say, 'I can't believe it. I had a pension when I was 21. I worked there for a couple of years. I'd forgotten about it. I'm in my 50s or 60s now. I heard you talk about Gretel or the Pension Tracing Service, and they've just told me there's £120,000.' It can be real money," he said.
How to Locate Lost Pensions
Lewis recommended starting with the Government's Pension Tracing Service, which helps individuals find contact details of previous pension providers. He also highlighted the free financial technology service Gretel as another option for tracking down forgotten pots.
"You can use the Government Pension Tracing Service if you know the company you worked for. And while it doesn't cover as many different pension schemes, you can use the free fintech firm, Gretel, which can also track old pensions for you if you haven't kept track of them," Lewis explained.
Consider Consolidation Carefully
After locating old pension pots, many people consider combining them into a single scheme for easier management. Lewis noted that consolidation can be beneficial but warned it is not always the right decision.
"You can consolidate. Consolidating is often a good idea, but there are pros and cons," he said. He encouraged savers unsure about consolidation to seek free guidance from Pension Wise, a semi-governmental agency offering free pension advice.
"I would always suggest if you don't know what you're doing with pensions, you get in touch with Pension Wise, which is a sort of a semi-governmental agency to give you free guidance on pensions. You can just call them up or go online. You can ask them your questions because consolidating is good for many, but there are some holes in it for some people, and you need to talk to them one-on-one to work out whether it's best for you," Lewis advised.
With millions of workers likely to have changed employers several times during their careers, Lewis's advice could help many uncover retirement savings they never knew they had.
