If you paid into a workplace pension years ago and have lost track of it, this calculator gives a starting point. Add each pension you think you had, with the years you were a member and your salary, and it estimates what they might be worth today. It covers workplace and personal pensions and final salary or career average schemes.
Missing pension calculator
Estimate what old workplace pensions, personal pensions, SIPPs and final salary schemes you have left behind might be worth today. The calculator uses the contribution rates, charge caps and tax relief rules that applied in the years each pension built up. It is an estimate only. Once you have a figure, the next step is finding the scheme through the free Pension Tracing Service or a paid tracing service.
Note: this tool is for pensions you might have lost track of. It does not estimate your State Pension, which you can check at gov.uk/check-state-pension. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent to us.
How these numbers are calculated
DC workplace pensions. Contributions default to the statutory minimum in force each year: 2% of qualifying earnings Oct 2012 to Apr 2018, 5% Apr 2018 to Apr 2019, 8% from Apr 2019. You can override these. Before auto-enrolment, workplace DC was opt-in and contribution rates varied widely; the default is 5% employer plus 3% employee for years before 2012.
Charges. 0.75% annual charge cap for auto-enrolment default funds from Apr 2015. 1.0% stakeholder cap 2001 to 2015. 1.5% typical annual charge for personal pensions before stakeholder. Applied each year to the running fund.
Tax relief. Personal contributions are grossed up at basic rate (20%) by default, so £80 paid in becomes £100 in the pot.
DB (final salary and CARE). Annual pension = accrual rate × years of service × pensionable salary (final salary, or career average revalued at CPI). Deferred pensions are revalued to today at CPI, capped under the statutory rules. The result shows an annual pension and a notional cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) at 20 times the annual pension.
Growth scenarios. Low 3%, mid 5% and high 7% a year after inflation, so the fund value is shown in today's money. A historical line overlays the FTSE All-Share real total return series as an illustration; individual years can differ a great deal from any pension fund you actually held.
This is an estimate, not a guaranteed value, and it is not financial advice or a recommendation to do anything. Pensions Advice UK is an introducer and does not give financial advice. For an accurate figure, find the scheme and ask the provider for a statement.
What it cannot tell you
The result is built from averages and the rules that applied at the time. It cannot know your pay rises, the charges your scheme actually took, how the money was invested or the scheme’s own rules, so the real value can be higher or lower.
The only way to know what a pension is really worth is to ask the provider that holds it.