Woman, 66, shares steps taken to find extra money for her retirement

New figures from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) suggest that an estimated £26.6billion is sitting unclaimed, which is an average of just over £9,400 per person. Britons are urged to take the steps to track down any lost pensions they may have as it ‘could be worth thousands in retirement’.On BBC Money Box, Sally called in to explain how she found one of her lost pensions.Sally, 65, used to work for a large corporate organisation and cashed in her pension once she had children.However, one of her former colleagues contacted her and explained that they had been in contact with her about an old pension in her name.Sally’s colleague then convinced her to also contact her old company as she still may have a pot with them.READ MORE: NS&I is increasing interest rates on savings accounts up to 3.7% – millions set to benefit On average, each lost pension is worth over £9,000 (Image: GETTY)She said: ‘I got in touch with them and as a result I now receive money every month which I didn’t even know existed.’Sally had moved houses nine times since she left the company which explained why they were not able to find and contact her.She said: ‘I had also been married three times so for them to find me with my name and address, you would think I’ve been trying to hide but I haven’t.’Duncan Stevens, CEO at Gretel, pension finding service said that it is ‘incredibly simple’ for people to lose track of their pensions due to general life events.DON’T MISSBritons can save up to £400 a year on energy bills with one simple switch – find out how [INSIGHT]Attendance Allowance: 6 myths that stop millions of pensioners claiming up to £370 a month [INSIGHT]Dave Ramsey suggests how pensioner with £15k in retirement can live off £615 a month [VIDEO] State pension age is currently 66 in the UK (Image: EXPRESS)Every employer must now provide all workers over 22-years-old and earning more than £6,240 a year with a pension plan that both they and their employees pay into.This has resulted in more than 10 million people having been “auto-enrolled” since 2012.However, many employees don’t pay much attention to their workplace pension, or know what it’s worth and when they move house or change jobs they may forget about it.In addition to this, it’s estimated that the average person in the UK will change jobs every five years, which means lots of pension pots to keep track of.Commenting on the latest figures, Helen Morrissey, senior pensions and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘The number of lost pensions is growing at an alarming rate and risks undermining our retirement planning.’We are more likely to change jobs several times during our careers and auto-enrolment means you could have a pension for each one.’Not updating your contact details for these pensions when you move to a new house means it is easy for pensions to go astray and you won’t have a full idea of what you have.’