Deferreds - The Poor Relations

I’m of that age. Time to start looking at what pensions I’ve got and to consider when to take them. It’s a bit of a shock to have reached such an age, I have to say! I’ve spent most of my career planning other people’s retirement and never really thought about planning my own. But there you go – time waits for no man and all that.

My first foray into my very own pension-land wasn’t such a success though. I approached a life and investment company that had taken over the liabilities of a plan I had been part of a long time back. And was rather surprised to be told I had no pension with them! I was able to produce a deferred pension statement, and all was sorted. But it does beg the question as to what would happen if I were less prepared. How many others fail to sort out deferred pensions due to poor record keeping? Or, more likely, having gone away and failed to notify the provider of the new address.

The usual tracing processes mean that eventually, the deferred member will (hopefully) be found and the benefits sorted out. But there’s no doubt that deferreds – especially in closed DB schemes – are the poor relations in terms of communication.

I hope that the new plans for a pensions dashboard will help rectify this. And there’s legislation on the way requiring an annual statement for deferreds as well. The more frequent use of emails in record keeping is helpful too, as many people may move house but not change their email address.

Nevertheless, as I found out personally, deferreds need a bit more attention.

As to the amount I’ll be getting, well let's say I won’t be fully retiring just yet!