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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Sam Barker & Ryan Paton

Martin Lewis issues advice for how to get thousands more in retirement

Martin Lewis has issued valuable advice for how people can get the most out of their pensions.

The finance guru shared the tips on the most recent episode of ITV's Money Show Live - as Mirror Online reports.

The Money Saving Expert explained the importance of people managing their pension pot correctly as this can provide income for a "quarter of your life".

READ MORE: Martin Lewis explains what government must do amid sky-rocketing energy prices

Martin urged Brits to track down any lost pensions you may have - and revealed there is around £20billion in pensions currently unclaimed in British retirement pots.

An example of when this can happen is when a worker moves jobs and forgets about their old pension.

The government has an online Pension Tracing Service that can help people track down old pensions.

The Money Saving Expert also urged Brits not to ignore their pension in favour of other ways of putting cash aside such as savings.

He said: "There's nowt out there like it. Saving doesn't come close. In general you would be far better off using a pensions wrapper."

Since 2012, UK workplaces have been auto-enrolling their staff onto private pensions.

Employers have to auto-enrol staff in the UK earning more than £10,00 a year and aged from 22 to the state pension age, currently 66.

Under auto-enrolment, workers have to save at least 8% of their salary a year into a pension.

Normally part of this comes from a worker's own salary, and part from their employer.

So if a worker puts in 5%, their employer will add an extra 3%.

These workers can opt out of these schemes, but Lewis urged them not to unless they had no other choice.

Martin claimed employees who work out are "effectively giving up a pay rise" because, when workers save into a pension, what they contribute is not taxed until they come to withdraw it - by which time it should have grown considerably.

The finance guru also said that consolidating pensions can help workers keep track of multiple pots - and help save money on yearly fees.

But he said anyone doing this should beware of fraudsters, who pretend to offer consolidation services to get their hands on retirement cash.

He said "One really important warning - if you are sitting at home and someone is calling up offering consolidation, be very careful as there are a lot of scammers out there."

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