Pension Awareness Week: Is Your Pension Doing What You Need It To?

Pension Awareness Week, taking place from 14–18 September 2026 (whilst Pension Awareness Day falls on 15 September) is an annual campaign that encourages people to understand their pensions and take an interest in their financial future.

The week is a useful reminder that, while retirement might feel a long way off, the decisions we make along the way can have a real impact on the lifestyle we eventually enjoy.

Pensions can feel complicated but understanding what you have and where you are now can make it easier to plan for the retirement you want in future.

Starting your career?

If you're just starting out on your career, knowing where to begin with pensions can feel daunting, particularly if you worry that saving for retirement is another expense you can't currently afford. You might also be wondering where to get advice, who you can trust and whether you need to have a lot of money to make a start.

Being automatically enrolled into your workplace pension (often referred to as auto enrolment)¹ means you're already taking an important first step. Your employer should also give you information about the scheme, but you may still have questions about how pensions work and what it all means for you.

At Stringer Mann Chartered Financial Planners, we’ll be very happy to take the time to explain how pensions work and answer any questions you might have, whether you're just starting out or simply want to understand the basics. We can also provide information for you to read in your own time, so you can start to get to grips with pensions without feeling under pressure to make any decisions.

Self-employed?

If you're self-employed, there's no employer automatically enrolling you into a workplace pension or making contributions on your behalf, so it's down to you to make your own arrangements. It can be easy to put retirement savings further down the list when you're concentrating on building your business, but starting early, even with a relatively small monthly amount, gives your pension more time to benefit from potential growth over the longer term although the value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invested.

The important thing is to start somewhere.

As with anyone starting out with pension saving, you don't have to know everything straight away. At Stringer Mann, we're happy to explain the options available to you and answer any questions you might have, so you can understand how pension saving could fit alongside your other financial commitments.

Already saving?

If you've changed employers over the years, you may have several workplace pensions, and it's easy to lose track of an old arrangement. The Government's Pension Tracing Service can help you find contact details for a pension provider if you're not sure where an old pension is held.

Wherever you are on your savings journey, it’s also worth thinking about what you want your retirement to look like. Perhaps you have a particular age in mind when you’d like to stop working, or maybe you simply want to know that you’ll have enough income to enjoy the things that matter to you - whether that’s foreign holidays or funding university for the grandkids.

Having a clearer picture of what you might need can help you understand whether you’re on track and whether there’s anything you could be doing differently.

Could your pension be doing more for you?

Once you have a better understanding of what you have, there are a few other things worth considering. Here are some questions to help you get started:

• Are you contributing enough?
• Are you comfortable with how your pension is invested?
• Do you understand the charges you are paying?
• Do you know what your options might be when you eventually come to take your pension?

These are not always straightforward questions, particularly when you have more than one pension or your circumstances have changed.

A pension review can help you make sense of your arrangements, identify any gaps and consider whether there are changes that could improve your position.

Taking the next step

You don't need to become a pensions expert to start taking an interest in your retirement planning. Even a little more understanding can help you feel more confident about the decisions you make.

Pension Awareness Week is a useful opportunity to take that first step, whether that means finding an old pension statement, checking your contributions or arranging a review.

If you would like to understand your pension arrangements and how they fit into your wider retirement plans, we can help you explore your options and make informed decisions about your future – wherever you are on your journey.

¹Auto-Enrolment products are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.