Tracking down a "lost" pension

A typical scenario with a client is "I have three pensions through three companies I have worked for. I am up to date with two of them, but have lost contact with the third company, which I think is defunct. How can I find out what this pension might be worth?"
Quite often a client will actually not bother to track the pension down as they feel that it will be worth very little. The fact is that pension benefits from even short periods of employment can run into many thousands of pounds. So it's in your interest to track these pensions down and claim the benefits - it is after all, your money! So how do you track down a lost pension? The Department for Work and Pensions runs a tracing service, which is the best place to track down a former occupational pension. The phone number is 0044 845 600 2537 and yes, this can be dialled from Spain or you can visit their website at www.pensionservice.gov.uk. It's important that when you take your pension you take the full benefits that you have earned throughout your working life. Also, do not underestimate the importance of your State Pension. For a free forecast, go to the same website.
Over the past 2 years pension funds have fallen dramatically and this has caused a few dilemmas. One of my recent clients has a small paid up pension in a managed growth fund that has fallen more than 20% in the past year. He has been offered by his pension provider to switch his money into a safer fund over the next two years before retirement. He wanted to know if this is the right time to switch, or is he better off staying put in the hope of market recovery. This method of switching is often referred to as "lifestyling" and is designed to protect clients from big pension fund falls close to retirement. If it is a 'small' fund, you may have other pensions and be able to afford to leave it invested past 65, giving it more time to recover before you need to draw an income. Whether to switch or stay depends on your tolerance to risk and how important this pension is to your overall retirement.
Another option is to transfer the fund into a QROPS approved pension scheme. You can transfer the pension fund into such a scheme and then there is no need for you to purchase an annuity, you can simply drawdown income from the pension fund. Therefore, the money can stay invested and can benefit from the market recovery.But it's important that you claim all the money that you are entitled to from your pension company. Dig out all the old papers and letters from the various pension providers and insurance companies. Contact the company to ensure that they have your present contact details and also ask them for a value. If you feel that QROPS may be of benefit to you then please contact me and I can have a look at your pension papers. There are positives and negatives to QROPS (as there is with anything in life!) check our website at aesinternational.es