James Wallis
A Derby financial advisor is offering to reunite local savers with their lost or forgotten pensions for free as part of a national campaign set up to highlight the £19.4bn-worth of unclaimed savings pots.
James Wallis, who runs Aristotle Financial Planning, is launching a month-long initiative to coincide with the first-ever National Pension Tracing Day, which was held on Sunday (31st October) to raise awareness of the millions of pensions that have been unclaimed by savers across the UK.
Figures show that there are an estimated 1.6 million pensions, worth an incredible £19.4bn, in savings that have not been claimed by their owners.
This is because only four in 100 people remember to tell their pension companies when they move homes or change jobs, which means that they lose contact and often forget they ever put money aside in the first place.
The problem has increased over the years alongside the tendency for people to change jobs more often and, with most people likely to have six or seven different jobs throughout their lifetime, the issue is likely to persist.
Matters are also not helped by organisations within the pensions industry merging and acquiring one another.
According to the Pension Policy Institute, two-thirds of UK adults have more than one pension saved for their retirement and 20% of them have lost at least one pension pot along the way.
James says that he has in the past worked with one saver who had set aside funds in no fewer than 10 different pots, which he was able to consolidate in one pension fund.
Now, although he does not expect many other people to have gone to such lengths, he’d like to hear from anyone who needs helping tracking down their own nest eggs.
He said: “Ten was unusual and was such a big number that it was certainly memorable, but while I wouldn’t expect to come across that total too often, I would definitely expect that most people have lost touch of one or two pensions over the years.
“They’re the people we’d like to reach out to because it’s so important for people to keep track of their money and the onus is on them, really, to ensure that they keep up with where their pension pots are.
“Tracking everything down is a relatively straightforward process, which is why we welcome National Pension Tracing Day and want to help. People work hard to earn their income so it’s a tragedy for them not to benefit from their hard-earned pensions when it comes to their retirement.”
James founded his company last year because he saw a need for a financial advice service that is straightforward and personable.
The company has nearly 100 clients all across Derbyshire and further afield and James also holds free drop-in sessions at local firms and public sector organisations to offer staff advice on pensions, investments and reducing debt.
To book a no-obligation pension-tracing appointment contact Aristotle Financial Planning via https://calendly.com/aristotlefinancialplanning/pensiontracing.
