Have you checked your pension? Make sure you're not sleepwalking into problems later in your life

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Have you checked your pension? A lot of people don’t, which can mean they’re sleepwalking into problems into later life.

In fact nearly two-thirds of people aged over 45 hasn’t checked their pension performance meaning around 10m retirement savings schemes are at risk of underperforming, according to Aviva.

“People need to monitor their pension every year to make sure it’s on track. If you don’t you could reach retirement and only then realise there’s a shortfall,” warns Aviva’s pension expert John Lawson in a new video interview I’ve made with him.

If that happens the remedy could be stark: you may be forced to continue working for much longer than you planned.

The first step is to track down all your old pensions – which you may have paid into at old jobs - through the Pension Tracing Service. It’s an official service that keeps records of all company pension scheme members.

You’ll find the Pension Tracing Service at gov.uk/find-lost-pension or you can all 0345 6002 537. It will help if you have your National Insurance number and details of the companies you worked for and when you worked for them.

In the video, John Lawson explains how to find out how much pension you may have and what you need to do to ensure that your retirement plans are on target.