A pension statement is an annual summary sent to you by your pension provider. It shows you how much money or benefits you have in your pension and, if your money is invested, how your investments are performing.
Personal and workplace pension statements
Pension statements are usually sent once a year to summarise the activity of your pension account. It will tell you everything you need to know about the health of your pension, including what type of pension you have and what it’s worth.
The majority of workplace and personal pensions are defined contribution pensions. This means that you’re responsible for saving into your pension and its value is based on your contributions and how your investments perform. If you have a defined contribution pension your pension statement will show you the fund value and highlight the performance of your investments.
Defined benefit pensions are another type of pension, which is based on your salary and how long you’ve worked for your employer. This is sometimes called a ‘final salary pension’ and your pension statement will show you your pension value at retirement and detail your length of service with your employer.
Other things may be included in your pension statement such as ‘special features’ and restrictions. These are details you’ll need to be mindful of before you consider moving or cashing in your pension. A special feature could be a guaranteed annuity rate that you’ll benefit from on retirement and a restriction could be an early exit fee that will become due as soon as you move your funds.
State Pension statements
If you’ve lived and worked in the UK you may be eligible for the State Pension, in addition to any other pensions you have. The amount of money you can receive from the government is dependent on your National Insurance record and how many years of National Insurance Contributions you’ve paid. To qualify for the new State Pension you’ll need to have paid national insurance for at least 10 years, and to claim the full State Pension it’s 35 years.
A State Pension statement can provide an estimate of what you could receive when you reach State Pension age. It’s possible to check your State Pension statement online by using the government’s State Pension forecasting tool. Alternatively, if you’re close to State Pension age, you can request a UK state pension statement from the Future Pension Centre.
What to do if you’re not receiving pension statements
If you have a pension, but aren’t receiving statements, you’ll need to contact your pension provider. You can find their details on any pension paperwork you may have received when you joined the scheme. If you’re a member of a workplace pension scheme you can find out who your pension provider is by asking your employer.
The older you are and the longer you have been working, the more likely it is that you’ll have started several pensions with different employers. If you haven’t consolidated them into one and have lost track, there are a few things you can do to find your pension. The government’s Pension Tracing Service is a database that can help you match employers to pension providers in order to find old pensions.
Choosing a pension provider and transferring all of your old pensions into one can also be a useful way to find a pension. When you choose PensionBee to look after your pension we’ll manage the transfer process from start to finish. Once your pensions are transferred, you’ll have just one pension to manage and can view your real-time pension balance online 24/7.
Last edited: 06-04-2024
