Millions failing to track their pension

By Maryrose Fison

LONDON (Citywire) - More than 13 million people have never reviewed their pension plan, according to new research from Baring Asset Management, but IFA Ray Guy says clients should keep tabs on their pot to help prevent a serious shortfall in later life.

Guy of Hedley Asset Management in Cardiff said attitudes many people showed towards retirement planning had to change, such as keeping track of pensions and investigating options.

‘It is important that people are keeping a check on how their preparations for the future are progressing and realise at the earliest possible moment that they have got a potential problem - when they are able to do something about it.

'If you realise a couple of years before you retire, it can be a bit too late.'

He added that people were losing out by not keeping their records up to date with their pension provider.

‘People move addresses and do not notify pension providers, so they are not receiving their annual statement,' he said.

But he said accessibility was not the only hurdle to pension awareness; apathy and a lack of trust also played key roles.

‘In the past few years, the shocks we have had in the equity market, coupled with the adverse tax changes that have been made by Gordon Brown have generally made people more wary about pensions than they were before,' he said.