£31bn in lost pensions. How much could belong to you?

Recent research suggests 3.3 million pension pots are no longer being monitored. That means the average lost pension is now worth £9,470.

And for those aged 55 to 75, the average value rises to £13,620.

That’s not spare change. That’s meaningful retirement income potential.

You can usually access your pension from age 55 (rising to 57 in 2028), though pension rules can change, and benefits depend on your circumstances.

Why are so many pensions lost?

The answer is simple: modern careers.

Gone are the days of a job for life. The average person will hold nine jobs during their career and work for six different employers. Millennials are expected to have as many as 15 jobs over their working lives.

Younger generations are also changing jobs more frequently. One survey found Gen Z workers stay in each role for an average of 1.7 years, compared with 5.7 years for baby boomers.

New jobs mean new pension schemes. So the number of pensions people accumulate is only increasing.

Over time, paperwork gets filed away, providers change, and old login details disappear.

Add in the other changes life brings. The average person moves house six times during their lifetime. Some people change their name. Email addresses and contact details evolve.

In a world where jobs, homes and contact details regularly change, it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks.

Even something as important as a pension pot.

Many people assume they know where everything is. Fewer have actually checked.

The danger of underestimating “small” pots

It’s easy to dismiss an old workplace pension if you think it only holds a few thousand pounds.

But the averages tell a different story.

Among those approaching or already in retirement, the typical lost pot exceeds £13,000. For some people, it will be far more.

That kind of money could contribute to your drawdown income or reduce pressure on other retirement savings. In retirement planning, five-figure sums are rarely trivial.

And there’s another factor many people overlook: compounding.

A pension pot worth £13,620, growing at 4% a year for 15 years, could grow to around £24,528.

At 7% annual growth, it could reach £37,578.

That’s a substantial boost to your retirement from money you may have forgotten existed.

These figures are for illustration only. The value of your pension will depend on the performance of your investments which can rise and fall in value, meaning you could get back less than you invested.

For many people, the issue isn’t that they haven’t saved enough. It’s that some of the savings they’ve already built have simply been forgotten.

The sooner you find your lost pensions, the sooner you can get your money working harder for your future.

Visibility matters as retirement approaches

As you move closer to retirement, clarity becomes more valuable than complexity.

Scattered pensions mean:
• Harder forecasting
• More paperwork
• Greater chance of duplication or underperformance
• A higher risk of overlooking something

Bringing pensions into one place can make planning easier. And it can give you a clearer picture of what your retirement will look like.

But consolidation isn’t always straightforward. Before transferring or consolidating pensions, check whether your existing plans include guarantees or valuable benefits that could be lost. Exit fees or market value reductions may also apply.

That’s why reviewing, before acting, is critical.

Think you might have a lost pension?

If there are billions sitting unclaimed in the UK, the more relevant question is personal:

Are you certain none of it is yours?

Retirement planning isn’t about building new wealth. It’s about making sure the wealth you’ve already built is working for you.

If you’ve changed jobs or haven’t reviewed your pensions recently, now is a sensible time to take stock. Especially, when there’s a simple way to track down lost pots.

Here’s how:

The Government’s Pension Tracing Service can provide contact details for pension providers. Use this if you remember the company, but not the pension details. You can call the Tracing Service on 0800 731 0175 – Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm.
Gretel – a free online service paid for by the finance industry. Register your details and it will not only do an initial search for you, it will continue to check every 14 days. If it finds something, it will send you an alert. Best part, it also tracks down other forgotten savings and investment accounts too.

If the company is still in operation, call them or contact an old colleague still working there. A simple telephone call could unlock the door to your forgotten pension.

What to do next

If you’ve changed jobs several times or haven’t reviewed your pensions for years, now could be a sensible time to take stock.

Even one forgotten pension pot could add thousands to your retirement savings.