What should I do next?
Get a State Pension forecast online
See if you can get an online State Pension forecast. This will tell you how much basic State Pension and additional State Pension you may get when you reach State Pension age.
Get an instant online pension forecast
There are a number of other things you can do if you want to start planning for your retirement now:
- If you don’t belong to an occupational pension scheme, ask your employer for information about the scheme they offer.
- If you are already a member of an occupational pension scheme, your employer or pension provider may send you a statement every year that shows how much pension you can expect to receive from the scheme when you retire. If you haven’t received one, you can ask your employer or pension provider to send you one.
- Find out if your employer can give you a combined pension forecast – that is a pension forecast that shows details of both your State Pension and occupational pension together. This will help you to understand what your total pension income is likely to be once you have retired.
Find out more about combined pension forecasts
- If you are self-employed and don’t already have a second pension, visit an independent financial adviser to find out which personal or stakeholder pension would be right for you.
To find an Independent Financial Adviser near you visit the IFA Promotion website
- If you are already a member of a personal pension scheme, your pension provider will send you a statement every year that includes an individual pension forecast for the scheme you belong to. This will tell you how much you may be entitled to when you retire.
- If you think you have one or several old company or personal pensions that you do not know the full details of, contact the Pension Tracing Service. You may have lost touch with your pension scheme, possibly due to a change in jobs, or the company may have changed its name. Whatever the reason, if you are no longer in contact with the company you should get in touch with the Pension Tracing Service, who may be able to give you the information you need to help you trace your pension.