Martin Lewis explains his 'basic' rule for paying into a pension
Martin Lewis has warned people who are paying into a pension they need to make savings "grow" in 2025. The BBC Sounds podcast host appeared on ITV This Morning today, where he called on UK households to "start early" when it comes to pension saving.
He explained: "The basic advice with pensions is to put in as much as possible as early as possible". Mr Lewis stressed the importance of early pension planning, with the expert noting on his podcast that while "it's never too late".
"Take the age you start a pension and half it. Then aim to put this percentage into your pre-tax salary into your pension each year until you retire," he explained. Mr Lewis used his interviewer ITV presenter Cat Deeley, 48, as an example.
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"Say if you are 32, what's half of that, 16. So you should be putting 16 per cent into your pension," he explained. "However, hardly anyone can do this. So, the earlier you start it the better," he went on to tell the Brummie TV star.
Mr Lewis also shared how you could easily track down past pensions from previous employers. Explaining how there is a pension tracer on Gov.UK that tells you who the pension from your previous employer should be with and who to contact.
He added that he has discussed old pensions previously and heard how some people who got in touch have found over £100,000 in pensions. He said: "If you've worked in multiple places and you're not sure whether you had a pension or not, it's absolutely worth doing that, I mean you could be sitting on a pension gold mine without realizing it."
Pension expert Helen Morrissey has highlighted the significant impact of tracking down lost pensions on retirement savings, too. "Tracking down lost pensions could add thousands to your retirement pot while consolidating pensions can give you a whole new perspective on what you have," Morrissey explained.