Did You LOSE a 401(k)? New Resource Will Help You Find It

The Retirement Savings Lost & Found Database is now available for use. It provides a new pathway for finding retirement money that might have been “lost” during your working career.

Column distributed by Hearst Connecticut Media Group.

Links to resources referenced:

• Capitalize: The True Cost of Forgotten 401(k) Accounts (2023)
  • https://www.hicapitalize.com/resources/the-true-cost-of-forgotten-401ks/?irclickid=VG10%3AeTFyxyKT1ZSfmUXcQViUkCSb4wNRxpvzA0&utm_source=impact&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=2334778&irgwc=1  
  • Related column excerpt:
    • “Using Department of Labor filings, Capitalize, a fintech company that helps people locate old 401(k)s, estimated that there are about 29.2 million forgotten or left-behind 401(k) accounts involving approximately $1.65 trillion in assets, as of 2023.”
• Fact Sheet: Retirement Savings Lost and Found Information Collection Request
  • https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/fact-sheets/retirement-savings-lost-and-found-information-collection-request.pdf
  • Related column excerpt:
    • “How can someone lose a 401(k)? Quoting a Department of Labor fact sheet, ‘Workers may lose track of their retirement plans after they change jobs or after a prior employer merges with another company or goes out of business. Retirement plans may lose track of people who are owed benefits due to incomplete recordkeeping, workers and beneficiaries not updating their contact information, and other reasons.’”
    • “Note that the EBSA ‘has taken great care to ensure that participant and beneficiary data submitted to the Lost and Found is secure and confidential,’ adding that if plan fiduciaries ‘prudently and loyally follow the data transmittal instructions, they will have satisfied their duty under ERISA section 404 to ensure proper mitigation of cybersecurity risks.’”
• Public Law 117-328 – Dec. 29, 2022
  • https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-117publ328/pdf/PLAW-117publ328.pdf
  • Related column excerpt:
    • “The SECURE 2.0 Act called for an online searchable database to be created that would allow a retirement saver ‘to locate the … contact information for the administrator of any plan with respect to which the individual is or was a participant or beneficiary, sufficient to allow the individual to locate the individual’s plan in order to make a claim for benefits.’”
• Department of Labor, EBSA, Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database
  • https://lostandfound.dol.gov/
  • Related column excerpt:
    • “The database is located at the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) website.”
• EBSA: Request Assistance from a Benefits Advisor
  • https://www.askebsa.dol.gov/WebIntake/Home.aspx#lf.
  • Related column excerpt:
    • “However, those who have cybersecurity concerns can choose to have information about themselves removed from the Lost and Found database. They can use an opt-out online form, which does not require Login.gov credentials.”