Life has a pesky habit of getting in the way of our admin. And you wouldn’t be alone in knowing you really should get on top of yours, but just haven’t got around to it yet.
Taking the first step toward tackling your pension checklist is easier than you think. All it takes is a little preparation: find a quiet spot, clear your workspace, gather your important documents, and have the key details ready. With just a bit of focus, you’ll have everything sorted in no time. Once you’re ready, follow our steps below to get started.
Jump to a section:
- Why check your pension contributions?
- How to check your workplace pension contributions
- How to check personal or private pension contributions
- What information will a pension contribution statement include?
- What if you’ve had multiple jobs or lost track of pensions?
- Calculating your retirement income
- Final thoughts
Why check your pension contributions?
Understanding your pension contributions is an essential part of preparing for a comfortable retirement. Regularly checking your contributions ensures you’re on track and helps you spot any potential issues early on. Here’s why it’s important:
- To have a clear understanding of how achievable your pension plans are:
Tracking your contributions gives you clarity on how much you’ve invested so far and how close you are to your retirement goals. You may find you need to start voluntarily contributing more now, to make sure you’re sipping on pina coladas on that retirement yacht later.
- To monitor your employer’s contributions:
If you’re enrolled in a workplace pension, your employer is required to contribute a minimum of 3%, too. Regular checks ensure you’re receiving what you’re entitled to.
- To avoid missing any payments:
Whether due to changing jobs, payroll errors, or other issues, missed contributions can occur. Every penny will count when the time comes to retire, so regularly monitoring yours ensures nothing slips through the cracks.
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To stay in control:
You may find that you’re dissatisfied with the pension scheme(s) you currently hold and want to move your older pots to a new account. Many people opt for a private pension pot such as a SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension) to give them more flexibility and control over how their money is invested (don’t worry, you don’t necessarily need investing expertise to do this — there are options available with in-house Investing Teams that can manage things for you).
Checking your pension contributions at key milestones – like after a job change, salary adjustment, or annually – helps you make informed decisions about your future.
How to check your workplace pension contributions
If you’re part of an auto-enrolment scheme or a workplace pension in your current employment, there are several ways to check your contributions. Follow these steps depending on how you access your information.
Through Your Payslip
Your payslip is often the easiest place to start. Look for a pre-tax section labelled pension contributions or similar.
Here’s what to check:
- Employee and employer contributions: Your payslip will typically show how much you’re contributing and how much your employer is adding, there’s a minimum of 8% that should be added, with your employer needing to contribute at least 3% of that. If you’re getting more than that from the employer, that’s a positive for you (free money for your future!).
- Tax relief: Some payslips may also indicate tax relief applied to your contributions.
- Salary sacrifice: If you have an agreement in place with your employer to do this, you should see an increased contribution in the pension section and a lower take-home wage to reflect this. Not all employers offer it, but it is a tax-efficient benefit if it’s the right choice for you. Visit Money Helper's website for more information: Salary sacrifice and your pension.
If you don’t see this information, you may need to consult with your payroll team.
Directly through your pension provider or scheme
Most workplace pension schemes provide access to an online portal or app. Logging in can give you a detailed breakdown of your pension contributions.
- Steps to access: Use the login details provided by your employer or pension provider. If you don’t know your provider, ask your Human Resources (HR) team for a hand.
- What you should see: Once logged in, you can typically view your total contributions (employer and employee), the current balance, and any investment growth. It may also offer you a projection of your fund’s value when you reach retirement age (this isn’t a guarantee, though).
Asking your HR or Finance department
If you’re unable to find the information yourself, reach out to your HR or Finance team. They can provide details about your current workplace pension scheme and help you track your contributions.
How to check personal or private pension contributions
For self-employed individuals who can’t access a workplace pension scheme, or those with a private pension pot (that they contribute to separately from their workplace one), here’s how to stay on top of your contributions:
- Contact your provider directly:
Reach out to your pension provider by phone or email to request a statement or log-in details for their online portal.
- Use online dashboard or app:
Many providers now offer online platforms to log in to, or an app for regular monitoring. And on either you should be able to review your contributions, balances, and growth. As well monitor the projected value to help you gauge whether you’ll need to increase your contributions now.
- Check your statements:
Pension providers usually send annual statements summarising your contributions, fees, and investment performance. Review these carefully.
When checking your private pension contributions, pay close attention to:
- Payment history;
- Fees or charges;
- Investment performance (if applicable).
What information will a pension contribution statement include?
When you check your pension contributions, you’ll typically see the following details:
- Employee contributions: What you’ve paid into the pension pot.
- Employer contributions: A breakdown of how much your employer has contributed.
- Tax relief, if applicable: The amount of tax relief added to your personal contributions.
- Investment performance: If your pension is invested, this will show how your investments’ current value — remember, market trends tend to go down as well as up, so you’ll likely see the fund’s value reflecting this.
- Charges/fees: Details of any fees deducted from your pension, including investment charges and platform fees. You can see Wealthify’s fees here.
- Transfer History: Any previous pensions transferred into your current scheme. Combining past pensions or moving them around is not uncommon. You may already be well-versed in transferring your past pension pots, but if not, read the next section, as this could be useful to you!
What if you’ve had multiple jobs or lost track of pensions?
It’s common to lose track of pensions when you’ve changed jobs multiple times over the years. Fortunately, there are simple ways to track them down and bring them together for easier management (if you’d like to):
You’ll need to:
- Gather your old employment details: If you can remember their workplace pension scheme, even better. If not, details such as old payslips or contracts can help you.
- Use the Gov.uk’s Pension Tracing Service: It’s quick, free and easy to use. This will help you track down what a past employer used for their pension scheme, and the scheme contact information for you to then reach out to them.
- Contact the previous providers: When you know the name of your previous pension provider, reach out to them directly for information on your pension. They may give you some login details to monitor your pot, and you can then instruct them if you’re looking to move to a better-suited provider.
Take note of their:
- fees and charges,
- investment style,
- Customer satisfaction levels,
- And your predicted projections (although these are not guaranteed and depend on market performance as well as the amount you continue to contribute).
Think about combining your past pensions into one, easy-to-manage place.
This is usually a straightforward process, as you can instruct a new pension scheme provider to do it for you. This is merging of past pension pots is called ‘consolidation’.
And while it may not be able to necessarily guarantee you’d have more money at retirement by combining them — having more money held in one place can help to reduce your paperwork and potentially lower the fees you’re paying on the existing multiple pots.
Calculating your retirement income
Once you have a clear picture of your pension contributions, you can use a pension calculator to estimate your future retirement income. These tools can help you understand:
- How much you’re likely to receive based on your current contributions.
- Whether you need to increase your savings to meet your retirement goals.
Final thoughts
Tracking your pension contributions is a vital step in securing your financial future. Whether you’re employed or self-employed, there are simple ways to access this information:
- Use your payslip, pension provider’s portal, or HR team for workplace pensions.
- Contact your provider directly or review statements for personal pensions.
- Take steps to trace and consolidate old pensions, if needed.
By staying informed, you can ensure your pension savings are on track and make confident decisions about your retirement planning.
If, after doing all the above, you’re considering getting started with a new private pension to boost your contributions, check out Wealthify’s Self-Invested Personal Pension as an award-winning contender. We’re YourMoney.com’s Best Pension Platform for 2025.
Please remember the value of your investments can go down as well as up, and you could get back less than invested.
Your tax treatment will depend on your individual circumstances, and it may be subject to change in the future.
Wealthify does not provide financial advice. Please seek financial advice if you are unsure about investing.
