Track down every pension from your past jobs
A friend has invited you to do this with them.
Jobs from decades ago often came with a pension that has been quietly sitting there since you left. The government's tracing service gives you contact details for a scheme from nothing more than an employer's name.
GentleFreeA few weeksIndoorsOn your ownUK
How to start
- List every employer you have worked for, with rough dates.
- Search the GOV.UK Pension Tracing Service for each one you have no paperwork for.
- Write to each scheme with your details and ask for a statement.
Where to go
We opened this link on 6 October 2026 and found it to be what we say. Dates, places and prices are on the official page, where they stay up to date.
This is general information, not financial or business advice for your own circumstances.
Plan this
Pick a day, or a month, and we will set out how to get ready, step by step, with a date and a reason for each. Projects run over months and stall without a rhythm, so the plan sets milestones you can see.
From the site
Finding lost pensions and old retirement accounts: the free searches that actually work
How to trace lost workplace and personal pensions using the UK Pension Tracing Service and MoneyHelper's four-step method, and lost US 401(k)s and pensions using the Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost and Found, PBGC and state unclaimed property. Plus what to check before consolidating. General information, not financial advice.
Read next
Check your State Pension forecast or Social Security statement: what the numbers mean and what you can still change
How to get your UK State Pension forecast or US Social Security Statement, what the figures and dates mean, how National Insurance gaps and voluntary contributions work, and how claiming at 62, 67 or 70 changes a US benefit. General information, not financial advice.
Living well on less: budgeting on a fixed income, the free help, and where the money leaks
How to budget on a fixed income using MoneyHelper's free planner, where the free help is (MoneyHelper, Citizens Advice, Age UK, AARP), which benefits to check (Pension Credit in the UK; SNAP, Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help in the US), and the household bills where money most often leaks. General information, not financial advice.