How do I work out how much is in my pension pot?

maria6259

I get an estimate every year from work that tells me how much I can expect annually when I retire, but to use some of the pension calculators I need to know how much is in my pot.

Any ideas where I get that information?

thanks

Cautious_Investor_3

maria6259 wrote: »

I get an estimate every year from work that tells me how much I can expect annually when I retire, but to use some of the pension calculators I need to know how much is in my pot.

Any ideas where I get that information?

thanks

Hi

Do you know what time of pension scheme it is? For example, final salary, money purchase occupational, group personal pension, group stakeholder?

The answre you give to the type of scheme will dictate the answer to your question.

The Cautious Investor

Loughton_Monkey

maria6259 wrote: »

I get an estimate every year from work that tells me how much I can expect annually when I retire, but to use some of the pension calculators I need to know how much is in my pot.

Any ideas where I get that information?

thanks

Details of who is managing the scheme will be on your annual statements. Simply write (or phone) and ask them.

Certainly once you have left a company with a 'frozen' pension [horrible and misleading term, but everyone uses it!], you can request a 'Transfer Value', since it is your legal right to transfer it elsewhere. I used to write to my provider evey year for this value - even though I had no intention of transferring it.

As far as I know, you would be entitled to transfer your 'pot' to another provider even though you remain in the scheme. If so, then they are legally obliged to give you this Transfer Value. Needless to say - do not actually transfer it!

Remember, though, that if your scheme is "Money Purchase", then the figure they give you would more or less accurately reflect its true value. If, however, it is some sort of "Final Salary" or "Defined Benefits" scheme, then such a value exists, but doesn't really mean much.

Look, also, at the projected retirement benefits. This will typically quote what lump sum you can take out. In almost all cases, this will represent 25% of the exact value of the projected 'pot' at retirement. So you can work this out, and also divide the actual pension by the pot size to see what annuity rate they are applying.