Let me ask you a question.  What was the last thing you lost?

If you’re anything like me you lose stuff on a pretty regular basis.  In my house, and on a pretty regular basis, I can be found rushing around trying to remember the last time I had my car keys, where I’d put my mobile!

Luckily due to the fact that we use our keys and mobiles every day they aren’t usually too far away and are usually found pretty quickly after being lost.

But, and please indulge me whilst I ask you another question, how easy would it be to find your keys if you hadn’t seen them all year?  or in the last 5 years? or the last 10?

Now it’s highly unlikely that this would happen. Most of us use our cars almost every day and therefore if your keys did go missing you’d continue to look for them until you find them.

However what about if you lost something, on most occasions  infinitely more valuable than your car keys but not an ‘object’ you use day to day.  An ‘object’ which, in some instances, can be worth thousands of pounds. Your pensions…

A recent survey found that nearly a quarter of adults have ‘lost’ a pension pot.

‘Lost’ in this context doesn’t mean the TV show set on an island which seemed to get stranger and more incomprehensible every series.

‘Lost’ in this context doesn’t mean the tv show set on an island which seemed to get stranger ‘Lost’ in this context means ‘Lost track of’….i.e. when you haven’t got any paperwork on the scheme.

This isn’t particular surprising due to the fact that, on average, we now have 11 employers over our working lives.  With our busy lives, trying to keep track of numerous different schemes can be quite tough.

So either you, or one of the next 3 people you meet are likely to have lost a pension at some stage.  In a quartet of people there’s a good chance that the individual who has ‘lost’ a pension in their lifetime is you!

A lot of these pensions have may have a relatively small value however let’s not forget that this is still your money and you have a right to claim it!  Also you might find that the pension you thought was worth pennies is actually worth significantly more.  Therefore surely there’s some value in taking the time to trace these schemes.

The issue previously was that these schemes, especially without the required paperwork, was difficult to trace and track.  However since 2007 there has been a free service, run by government, which may be able to help you potentially find any scheme you might have ‘lost’ throughout your working life.

Therefore, if you are one of the four who have misplaced a scheme, your pensions can go from ‘lost’ to ‘found’ quickly, easily and without too much work on your part by using this service.

You can find the online portal to the Pension Tracing Service here.