How To Find Lost 401k Funds

How To Find Your Lost 401 And Other Retirement Accounts

Video: Why You Should Track Down Your Old 401s Now

Between job changes, growing families, maybe even cross-country moves, losing access or forgetting about a retirement account is completely plausible.

Retirement Tip of the Week: If you think you have money floating around in a 401 or pension somewhere, try and find it with a few helpful resources.

For those of us who have been in the workforce for some time, it is easier than one might think to lose track of retirement assets, said Larry Harris, a certified financial planner at Parsec Financial Wealth Management.

Lost retirement money could be held in an abandoned 401 plan or a pension, or in the form of stock shares granted by the employer.

The first step is to check your states treasury site, as states will take custody of these assets after a certain number of years . Many states have an option to perform a search for unclaimed property, said Christopher Lyman, certified financial planner at Allied Financial Advisors. Be careful as to what site youre actually on a state government website will end in .gov, for example. Claiming the property from there is a fairly straightforward process laid out by the state, he said.

Try running the search using any name ever used, said Sarah Carlson, a certified financial planner and founder of Fulcrum Financial Group.

Find Accounts From Failed Banks

You have a couple options if your bank failed and you have yet to claim your money:

• You can find unclaimed money from banks that have failed at this Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. website.
• If your unclaimed money was held at a failed credit union, you can track it down at this National Credit Union Administration website.

Blog: How To Find A Lost 401

There are trillions of dollars being left behind in forgotten 401 plans in America. That is a lot of money! If you have had several jobs over the years, then you may have left behind your 401 when you changed employers. It can be hard to keep track of all of your retirement accounts, but its important to know where your money is. We cover how to locate your lost 401 and what you need to do next.

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Why You Should Recover Your Old 401k

Theres a simple reason why you should attempt to recover a lost 401k account: Its your money. Whether your old 401k plan holds a lot of money or a little, every penny counts when staying on track with your retirement savings.

Another important point to consider: If youve changed jobs multiple times, its possible that you could have more than one lost 401k and taken together, that money could make a surprising difference to your nest egg.

Last, if you were lucky to have an employer that offered a matching 401 contribution, your missing account may have more money in them than you think. For example, a common employer match is 50%, up to the first 6% of your salary. If you dont make an effort to find old 401k accounts, youre missing out on that free money as well.

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How Long Will My Money Stay In My Retirement Plan

This varies by company and account balance, and it depends on what is happening with the plan. If the company is liquidating, you may have to decide what to do with it or risk having it convert to cash very quickly. Otherwise, most plans will convert to cash within three years. If your account has less than $1,000, the firm is allowed to cut you a check for the amount and close your account.

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Finding Your Old 401k: Here’s What To Do

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Ever wish you could click on an app called Find my 401? Its surprisingly easy to lose track of a 401 account when you change jobs or careers. The good news: The money isnt gone, and there are ways to reclaim your missing account.

The quickest way to find old 401 money is to contact your former employer to see where the account is now. Its possible that your lost 401 isnt lost at all instead, its right where you left it. In some cases, however, employers may cash out an old 401 or roll it over to an IRA on behalf of a former employee. In that case, you might have to do a little more digging to find lost 401 funds.

If you need to rescue an unclaimed 401, heres what you need to know.

Looked For Unclaimed Money

Ghosted 401 money certainly qualifies as missing money, and it could be uncovered on digital money-funder platforms like missingmoney.com.

The site, run by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, runs free searches for not just retirement funds, but for money in old bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, escrow accounts, and insurance policies. According to the websites directions, if you get a hit on the site, just claim the property and fill out the requested details, then submit and you will receive instructions on the next steps from the state where you made the claim.

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Why You Should Recover Your Old 401

Theres a simple reason why you should attempt to recover a lost 401 account: Its your money. Whether your old 401 plan holds a lot of money or a little, every penny counts when staying on track with your retirement savings.

Another important point to consider: If youve changed jobs multiple times, its possible that you could have more than one lost 401 and taken together, that money could make a surprising difference to your nest egg.

Last, if you were lucky to have an employer that offered a matching 401 contribution, your missing account may have more money in them than you think. For example, a common employer match is 50%, up to the first 6% of your salary. If you dont make an effort to find old 401 accounts, youre missing out on that free money as well.

How To Find Your Lost 401 Money

The best ways to track down retirement savings from a former employer

In the hurried days of a big move to a new job, theres one valuable item workers are neglecting to pack: the money their former employer invested for them in a 401.

Theres a lot of lost retirement savings without its rightful owners. Exactly how much is unknown there is no one comprehensive national database on 401 or other lost retirement accounts. But PenChecks Trust, a California-based firm that helps companies locate former employee-owed retirement benefits, paid out $35 million to more than 15,000 missing participants in 2017 alone, says company vice president Spiro Preovolos.

And Preovolos estimates that nationally the amount of lost retirement funds is well into the billions of dollars.

The number of people who lose track of their 401 is going to increase significantly in the next 10 or 20 years, says Terry Dunne, a managing director at Millennium Trust, an Illinois-based financial services company that provides custody services to individual accounts. Thats thanks to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which encourages companies to automatically enroll workers in 401s or other employer-sponsored retirement plans, Dunne says.

If you think some of the lost cash may be yours, heres what to do:

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Follow These Steps With Help If You Need It

At the same time, finding your old accounts may be challenging for several reasons. In the first year of the pandemic, for example, hundreds of thousands of U.S. businesses closed permanently. In addition, says Zigo, you may have moved, or changed your email address, so your previous employer cant find you. Your old 401 plan may have changed sponsors. One of my clients has tried 10 times to reach a previous sponsor. It can be a frustrating process. And the bigger the hurdle, the less likely we are to try, she says. But help is available. A qualified financial planner can guide you through the following steps.

1. Take stock of your accounts

First, make a list that includes every employer where you contributed to a 401, suggests Charles Sachs, a CFP at Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC in Miami, Florida. Next, call each one to see if they still have an account in your name, and update your contact information, if needed. Reaching out to them is the only way to find out where you stand, Sachs says. Its common for our clients to discover one or two old plans where they still have funds.

2. If a company has closed, check these websites

You can search for your money, which may be considered unclaimed property, at databases such as unclaimed.org and missingmoney.com. Both have links to state treasurers, comptrollers or other officials who update their lists of unclaimed assets regularly.

3. Rollover the money directly to avoid expensive withholding

Other Forgotten Funds And Where To Find Them

Retirement funds arent the only assets that may be lost or forgotten. Others include insurance accounts or annuities unpaid wages pensions from former employers FHA-insurance refunds tax refunds savings bonds accounts from bank or credit union failures. In addition, heirs may easily overlook one or more accounts, if the estate plan failed to list all of them.

The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators reports that about 1 in 10 Americans have unclaimed property, and more than $3 billion is returned to owners each year.

Brokerage firms and other financial institutions must report unclaimed or abandoned accounts once they have made a diligent effort to locate the owner. Should they be unsuccessful, they must report it to the state agency that handles such matters. The agency then claims it through a process known as escheatment so that the owners can find it.

Websites you can use to find lost funds include your states unclaimed property site NAUPAs missingmoney.com the U.S. Department of Labor database for back wages or the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp to claim your pension funds. To find accounts at failed banks, try the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. For credit unions, go to the National Credit Union Administration.

A final note: Claiming your assets is free. Beware of anyone who wants to charge you for doing so.

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External Resources For Locating Benefits

Have you explored Finding a Lost Pension prior to visiting these external resources?

Counseling Resources

• The Pension Rights Center is a nonprofit consumer organization that provides information on pension-related topics and hosts PensionHelp America, an online resource for connecting individuals with counseling projects, government agencies, and legal service providers that offer free information and assistance.
• The Pension Action Center provides free legal counseling for workers and retirees who live or worked in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Illinois.
• The American Academy of Actuaries Pension Assistance List is intended to provide professional services to consumers who have questions about their pension plans.

Government and Military Pensions

• Information about federal and military pensions is available from the Office of Personnel Management, Thrift Savings Plan, and Department of Defense.
• For state and local pension plans, visit state government websites or municipality websites and contact the applicable personnel office.

Lost or Abandoned Pensions

• Retirement Planning
• How to Reclaim Your Retirement Plan with a Previous Employer

Millions of Americans accidentally or unknowingly leave money in retirement plans with previous employers. According to a study by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, Americans lost track of more than $7.7 billion in retirement savings in 2015.

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Look Into Your States Unclaimed Property Database

If your former company goes bankrupt, youre still OK. The law protects your 401 funds from its creditors.

Often, the brokerage firm that held the funds for your former companys 401 plan will retain the funds for you. However, that firm can eventually turn over the money to the states unclaimed property fund.

Depending on the state, if your account becomes inactive or dormant for as few as three years, the administrator can mail the funds to your last known address. If those funds are returned to sender or if you cant be reached, your assets get relinquished to the state.

A number of websites allow you to search for unclaimed money using databases in various states. Many states have their own sites, but these may be a good place to start:

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How To Track Down That Lost 401 Or Pension

Can’t Find your old 401 or that old pension? Here is how to track your money down. Shutterstock

At least once every few months a long-term client brings in a retirement account statement and says, I forgot I had this retirement account. Can you help me with it? Sometimes these accounts are tiny but other times they hold a substantial amount of money. All of them are old, and havent been looked at in years. If you find yourself in this position, follow these steps to locating your 401 or other retirement accounts from previous employers.

Do you ever feel like you know you saved more for retirement than your statements indicate? Are you certain you must have forgotten about an old retirement account or pension with a previous employer? You likely arent crazy, and youre definitely not alone.

Americans lost track of more than $7.7 billion worth of retirement savings in 2015 alone by accidentally and unknowingly abandoning their 401.– USA Today, February 25, 2018

The days of graduating college, getting a corporate job and staying with the same employer until the retirement age of 65 are long gone. Today, people are jumping from job to job which often leaves a trail of old retirement accounts and even a few pensions. Because of this, a surprising number of people lose track of these old accounts. Forgetting about these accounts can really hurt your overall retirement security when you factor in compounding interest.

How to Start Your Search for Lost Retirement Assets

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Where To Find Unclaimed Money

The type of unclaimed money can affect the type of database you need to search or the state agency you need to contact.

Unfortunately, this is a state-by-state problem, says Warren Ward, CFP, founder of WWA Planning and Investments in Columbus, Indiana. I dont know of any national database.

So, for many types of money or unclaimed property, you will need to research your states records.

In Indiana, you can visit indianaunclaimed.gov, a site maintained by the attorney generals office, says Ward. Its actually something that we do every year for our clients, but its very easy for an individual to do if they care.

Ward warns of treasure hunters who contact you out of the blue and offer to find the lost money for you.

The claims process is now automated, but we still hear about people scanning the database for large sums of money and trying to get people to pay them to locate the funds, says -he.

So if someone contacts you to find unclaimed money, it may indicate that you have funds somewhere. This means that you have to search for it yourself. You can search any of the states websites for free, and you dont need to pay anyone to find the money for you.

Lost Participants: I Ain’t Missing You At All

Nope, this isnt an article about bad pop songs from the 1980s, but it is about something that can be just as much of a bother lost participants with remaining balances in your retirement plan. Whether you are trying to clean up small residual balances or trying to wrap up a plan termination, there are few things as frustrating as trying to locate missing participants. Fortunately, there are some helpful rules that provide guidance on how to handle these situations.

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