Lost pension money?

[Doyoumind]

If I had a pension that my employer and contributed to over 15 years ago but I haven't been in touch with the provider and they will have lost track of me, is that money now lost to me or will it still be there? It is not a lot of money, otherwise I would have made more of an effort to keep track of it.

It should have been held for you unless you cashed it in or transferred to another scheme.

The money you and your employer paid in will have remained invested for you unless you've transferred it. Two ticks and I'll post the pension tracing service for you.

Thanks. I will try and track it down.

Will I have to transfer it or will I be able to release it as cash, or does that depend on the pension? I'm quite good on most financial stuff but pensions is something I've never paid much attention to and have just gone along with whatever was provided in my workplace.

www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details

You should be able to leave it there.

You shouldn't have to transfer it unless you want to - the general rule of thumb is you can leave it invested, transfer it, or take the benefits when you're aged 55 plus although the scheme may have particular rules that affect this. However what you could and should do are two different things. If you're not sure you should always get regulated independent financial advice - you can find one via the website unbiased.co.uk

Wish I was rich enough to not bother keeping track of small amounts

You won’t be able to take it as cash unless you’re over 55, and even then it’s almost certainly a bad move as triggering drawdown from a Pension with cap the further contributions you can make significantly.

I'm not rich at all but I wasn't there long and the contributions were very small. I had always thought it was just sitting there but then suddenly had a panic it wouldn't be if they had lost track of me.