In 2019, there were over 5 million self-employed people in the UK*.
There are many advantages to becoming your own boss, however it does mean that you need to manage your own financial future. A regular 9-5 job means that you are automatically opted into a workplace pension scheme and you benefit from your employer contributing to your pension automatically.
Once you become self-employed you will no longer receive employer pension contributions and you will be responsible for building up a retirement pot big enough to fund your retirement. Managing your pension and the underlying investments is solely your responsibility.
When you were employed you would have received a workplace pension. When you change job your pension will still belong to you but the payments into the scheme will stop. On average people have 11 jobs in their lifetime**, this means it is likely that you will have multiple workplace pensions. This can be hard to manage, and you are unlikely to know what underlying investments that your pensions are invested in or if the investments are in line with your individual goals. It is also hard to keep track of the total amount you have saved in pensions for your retirement.
Find out more about planning for your retirement
If you are not sure where your old workplace pensions are held then you can use the government’s pension tracing service to find it.
What should you consider when reviewing your workplace pensions?
It can be overwhelming to deal with multiple pension pots with different providers and investments.
At Four Wealth Management, we can help you to find all of your old workplace pensions and help you to understand what your pensions are invested in and how much you already have saved for retirement.
Contact us for help tracking down your old pensions
Some older pension schemes also have limited investment choices and higher charges. Whereas a modern flexible pension may give you more investment opportunities that mean you can closely align your investments with your individual goals and possibly get better returns.
A newer pension scheme might not always be beneficial as some pension schemes have guaranteed benefits. At Four Wealth Management we will help you to understand what you would be giving up with each provider before making a recommendation.
As a self-employed business owner, you are likely to have a very limited amount of time to dedicate to your own finances. If you consolidate your pensions with one provider, it will be less time consuming to manage should you need to contact them.
Even if you cannot contribute much per month into your pension at the moment, organising your old workplace pensions is a good way to start planning for your retirement.
Start planning your retirement today
To find your old workplace pensions and check if you are on track to reach your retirement goals, contact us on 0117 973 0500 or leave us a message online to book a no-obligation meeting with a financial adviser at Four Wealth Management.
The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.
*Gov, UK, 2020 ‘Coronavirus and self-employment in the UK’
**Gov UK, 2014 ‘Thousands more make contact with long lost funds’
