Almost three quarters (74%) of those with a pension under the age of 45 do not know the value of their pension investments or the income they can currently expect to receive in retirement.

Only around a quarter (26%) know what their pension pots are currently worth and just one in five (21%) say they know what income they are expecting when they retire, according to the research from Standard Life.

The research has also found that over two fifths (43%) of people in the UK with pensions have two plans or more.

Standard Life’s Alistair Hardie said: “The problem is that by not keeping a close eye on our pensions in the earlier years, we run the risk of falling behind and leaving any top ups until the last minute, when it may be too late to catch up.

“Having multiple pension pots must make it more difficult for people to get a clear picture of the total value – and it could also be why people totally lose touch with their pensions. Consolidating their pots could help and is something to consider.

“When we consolidate our pensions, we have just one provider to keep in touch with and one annual statement to look at and review. Consolidating can also potentially mean we pay lower charges and possibly have more choice and buying power when we come to retire too.

“When you think about it, we often consolidate other things like our utility providers or combine our TV, phone and broadband packages with one provider to make things simpler to keep tabs on and generally cheaper too. The same theory could potentially be applied to pension pots. But before consolidating our pensions in one place, we should always check to make sure we are not giving up important benefits, like defined benefits, ‘with profits’ bonuses and enhanced tax-free cash and it makes sense to seek professional advice if at all unsure.”