How to find a pension you left abroad: every option compared

If you worked in another country, even for a year or two, there may be a pension there in your name. Each country runs an official route for checking, and several are free. On top of that sit apps, advisers and identification services like ours. This guide compares them, so you can pick the cheapest route that will work for your situation. Every fact about another company below was read on 16 October 2026 on the page we link where we use it. The official routes in the table carry their own last checked dates.

Start with the free official route in each country

For many people the official route is enough. The table lists the official route for all 41 countries we cover. Where an authority states the route is free, the notes below say so. Each row is read from our directory of official pension portals: the name of the register, what it asks for when you sign in, whether our row records it as usable from abroad, and the date we last checked it. We build the table from those stored rows, so a row and its date change together.

Each row names the country's official record for the state pension. Workplace pensions can have a separate route, as some of the notes below show. "Not recorded" means our row for that country holds no value for that column yet. "Not stated by the authority" means the authority's own pages, as we read them, do not say whether the route works from abroad.

Some of these routes in the words of the institutions that run them:

• Netherlands. The Dutch government's site for people abroad, Netherlands Worldwide, says mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl shows the AOW state pension and pensions from Dutch employers, that you sign in with DigiD or an EU login, and that it does not show pensions built up abroad. Our page for the Netherlands sets out what exists there.
• Germany. Deutsche Rentenversicherung Baden-Württemberg says it sends information by post at no charge: "Kosten: null Euro!" (its press release). Our page for Germany covers the German record.
• Switzerland. The table row is the first pillar (the state pension account). For workplace pensions, the second pillar, the Central Office for 2nd pillar pensions (Zentralstelle 2. Säule) takes search requests, and the request is free: "Die Anfrage ist kostenlos" (request leaflet, how the search works). It holds no money itself. Our page for Switzerland has the detail.
• Australia. Lost super is checked through ATO online services in myGov. If you have left Australia, the departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) is an application to be paid your super, not a search. It is online, and the ATO says it is free of charge. Our page for Australia covers both.
• Hong Kong. The MPFA's old enquiry service ceased on 5 October 2026, and the eMPF Platform is the route now. Our page for Hong Kong has more.
• United States. The Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost and Found database is free: the DOL "does not charge a fee". You verify your identity through Login.gov, which needs a Social Security number. Our page for the United States covers the rest.

Do it yourself

If you know your old employers, you can write to each one, or to its pension provider, and ask for a statement. This costs nothing but time. It gets harder when employers have merged or changed names, when records are in another language, or when you are not sure which scheme you were in.

Pension finder apps

In the UK and the US, several companies help you find old pensions. PensionBee finds and combines UK pensions into its own plan, and Moneyfarm says it will find, check and transfer pensions at no cost. Penfold offers a free Find My Pension tool. In the US, Capitalize says "No hidden fees, or any fees at all", and that it is paid by its retirement account partners if you open a new account. PensionBee, Penfold and Moneyfarm each publish an annual fee on the money you hold with them (PensionBee, Penfold, Moneyfarm), and we set the figures out in our comparison of pension finder apps.

On moving a pension into its plan, PensionBee states: "No, unfortunately we can't transfer a pension from outside the UK into your PensionBee plan." (PensionBee, living overseas)

Advisers

Some advice firms offer expat pension tracing. Titan Wealth International, for example, publishes a guide to expat pension tracing.

Fee models differ between firms, so ask for the fee in writing before you start. We compare the models in adviser led, identification only and do it yourself.

Fund side tracing

Some pension schemes use specialists to find members they have lost touch with. Heka Global, for example, works with scheme trustees on this (Zedra, Dalriada Trustees). That work happens on the fund side. It is not a route you start yourself.

Identification only: what we do

We identify pensions you may have left in the countries you worked in, across 41 countries, using official sources. Every report puts the free official route first, as our sample report shows. We identify only. You contact the funds yourself, so we never hold your money, we take no commission and we take no percentage of anyone's pension. We do not give financial advice.

We charge a flat fee. The Country Pension Identification Report is $99 for one country. The Enhanced Pension Identification Report is $129 for two countries, with a ready-to-send information request for every fund we find. The Global Pension Identification Report is $149 for three or more countries, full coverage across the countries we cover. Covering three or more countries? The Global report is $149 for every country we cover. If our report finds nothing material, you get a full refund. The refund terms are on our pricing page.

We also run GPFR, the Global Pension Finding Register, a free register for people who worked abroad. You add yourself once. Nothing is shared without your yes, as the register page explains.

Comparison table

Frequently asked questions

Is there one free official tool for every country? No. Each country runs its own route, and some need a local login such as DigiD or Login.gov. The table above lists the route for each of our 41 countries, with what it asks for.

When is the free route enough? When you know the employer or provider, you can use the country's sign in, and you can read the reply. Then use it and do not pay anyone. In the UK, for example, if your pension is with a UK employer or provider whose name you know, the free Pension Tracing Service may be all you need. GOV.UK says "You need the name of an employer or a pension provider to use this service", and from abroad the phone line is +44 (0)191 218 7777, on weekdays from 10am to 3pm.

What if I worked in several countries and no longer have a local login? Then the free routes get harder one country at a time. The Dutch route needs DigiD or an EU login (Netherlands Worldwide), and Australia's lost super check runs through ATO online services in myGov (ATO). Writing to old employers works when they still exist under the same name. When an employer has merged or been renamed, or you are not sure which scheme you were in, one report that works through each country from official sources, with the free official route first, is what we do. Our sample report shows what you get.

Will a UK pension app find my pension in Germany or Australia? PensionBee states that it cannot transfer a pension from outside the UK into its plan, which is about moving money, not finding it. For any other app, check what it publishes for the country you need before you rely on it.

Do you take a percentage of what you find? No. We charge a flat fee per report and take no commission.

Do you contact the pension funds for me? No. We identify the pensions and the official contacts. You contact the funds yourself.

Where to start

First, use the free official route in each country where you worked. The table above names it for every country we cover, and our directory of official pension portals has the detail. If you worked in several countries, or are not sure which institution holds the record, our free check asks where you worked and when, and shows which countries may hold a pension for you. See our pricing if you want a report.

We also compare paid services, country by country, on price, coverage and who keeps the money: German pension refund agencies, Australian super and money finders, Pension Pie and PensionHunter, French pension audits.