How to Find Your Lost 401 (K)
Do you have a missing 401 (k) that you don’t know about? This is more common than you think. One US Department of Labor study suggests that people will be working a dozen jobs by the mid-40s, with most of them only lasting a few years. With this outflow, it’s easy to lose your 401 (k) somewhere along the way. Here’s how you can find and reclaim your long-lost 401 (k).
Contact your old employer
If you can remember the name of your former employer, you are really off to a good start. Your first step is to contact your old employer’s HR department and ask if they have any 401 (k) records in your name. If you’re lucky, they can help you transfer money to another 401 (k) or IRA .
It is also possible that your old employer transferred your retirement plan to a bank, insurer or mutual fund, but they are still required to maintain and pay benefits if you are eligible. Your old company might put you in touch with a financial institution that directly controls your savings.
What if my old company no longer exists?
If your previous employer no longer exists due to bankruptcy, merger, or just a name change, you will need to track down the new organization and its 401 (k) administrator (which may be listed on your old statement if you still have one). If you don’t know how to find them, it gets a little trickier as there is no centralized database for old retirement assets. If Google doesn’t help, try:
- Contacting the Retirement Benefit Guarantee Corporation, a federal agency that has a missing member program that links employees to retirement savings they may have forgotten about.
- The Department of Labor’s abandoned plans database, which can help you determine what happened to your retirement plan, as well as contact information for the current plan administrator.
- The National Unclaimed Retirement Benefit Register , which allows former employees to search a database of unpaid retirement accounts for free. To use it, you only need your social security number.
- Search your name on www.freeERISA.com , a database of 401 (k) documents filed with the federal government.
- Securities and Exchange Commission database , which will contain information about your old employer, if they were public.
- Contacting your state Department of State, which registers businesses and maintains records of businesses under its jurisdiction.
Once you find your account, there will be no funds cap. You can work with your administrator to revoke them or transfer them to an IRA or an existing 401 (k). But keep in mind that withdrawals will be subject to regular income tax and early withdrawal penalties that are stipulated by 401 (k). Best of all, the rest of the money is all yours, like finding a twenty dollar bill in a winter jacket, but better.