New research from Hargreaves Lansdown has found that more than a quarter (26 per cent) of people do not know how much they and their employer are contributing to their pension.

Knowing exactly how much is going in is vital in order to understand what your final pension might be in retirement – and whether you should be increasing payments… and asking your  employer to do the same.

“Making tiny tweaks to what you and your employer pay in over time can have an enormous impact on what you end up with when you retire,” says Hargreaves Lansdown senior pensions and retirement analyst, Helen Morrissey.

“Someone with a total contribution (employer and employee) of £100 per month into their pension throughout their working life can expect to end up with a pension of around £160,000 when they hit age 65 while someone paying a flat contribution of £200 per month could end up with around £321,000.

“However, making small increases to these amounts every year can make a huge difference. Increasing contributions by just 2 per cent every year would mean these people could end up with something closer to £220,000 and £441,000 respectively – these increases would have an enormous impact on your lifestyle in retirement.

“These are potentially huge gains for relatively little pain, and it is worth making sure you increase your contributions whenever possible – for instance when you get a pay increase or start a new job.”

It can also be worth checking out if your employer would be willing to increase their contribution – for instance, in lieu of a pay rise.

“While many employers only pay in the minimum they need to under auto-enrolment,” adds Helen Morrissey, “there are others who are willing to pay in more if you do and this will further boost your pension – it is always worth asking your employer if they do this and it could really improve your standard of living in retirement.”

Make sure your plans are on track

Knowing just how much you can expect to be receiving in retirement is an essential first step. You can do this at a glance using your RetireEasy LifePlan… helping you make an informed decision about whether to make adjustments to your contributions or lifestyle.