Pension question

[macmilm]

Many many moons ago (about 14 years) I had a pension scheme with an employer which I since forgot all about until now.
From memory my employer matched whatever I paid in up to a certain amount or something like that. I do remember it was with 'Standard Life'
since leaving that employer what will have happened to it... I wasn't concerned as I later setup a private pension so wasn't relying on this for retirement

Since I recalled I just wondered if it will be gone due to it being 14 years since I did anything with it.
It was probably only paid into for 2 years tops so would be worth fuck all anyway lol

Opinion and advice guys n gals , Cheers

[wakadoo]

I think they refund payments if its only paid for 2 years or less.

[macmilm]

I think they refund payments if its only paid for 2 years or less.

Might be worth digging around then... even if its just a few hundred quid (I have no idea what I was contributing) then its better than a slap in the face.

[Jokah]

I am no expert on pensions or finances of any king but I have just recently had a pensions review/presentation at my new place of work to inform us all of the new work based pension schemes that employers have to partake in.

As this is my third job in 10 years I now have 3 different pensions. I asked this exact question and was informed that it will always be there. He did cover what would happen if say the company had gone bankrupt or other similar outcomes but if I'm honest I can't remeber what he said. Just wanted to point out that unless there is some unforeseen or unusual circumstance then it should still be there no matter how little you paid into it. Whoever your current pension scheme is with should be able to track down any old pensions you have.

[Mr.James]

I had an old 'with profits' pension with Standard Life when they got floated on the stock market in around 2005/2006. I think they had 3 types of pension, but I can only remember the details of the first two. A 'safe' option which didn't earn a massive amount but was guaranteed to go up. The other was a 'risky' option where they gambled on the stock market which meant you could end up not earning anything if the stock market bombed. This was the 'with profits' pension that I had. I think the 3rd was a super risky option which gained the most interest but could also wipe out everything you saved. I'm not 100% on that last one though.

Because I had the 'with profits' pension I was allocated a bunch of shares when they floated (you didn't get any if you were in the 'safe' pension). I just cashed them in last week for £1,300.