How to Find Your Lost Retirement Benefits
If you've worked for more than one employer in your lifetime, you may have lost or forgotten retirement benefits just waiting for you to track them down. Here's how to find and claim those long-lost accounts.
You may have contributed to a 401(k) for a former employer without even realizing it. Some employers will automatically enroll you in their 401(k) plans at a low contribution level, and if you didn't fill out the paperwork to decline auto-enrollment, you could have built up a 401(k) balance without your knowledge.
The easiest way to find an old 401(k) is to contact the HR departments of your former employers and ask whether you have an open balance in a 401(k) with them. If you don't have contact information for an old employer, or if the company has gone out of business, try the Department of Labor's Form 5500 search. Form 5500 is a tax form that 401(k) plan administrators are generally required to file annually, so if you can track down your plan's Form 5500, you'll find the plan administrator's contact information and can reach out to them. Note that this search only goes back to 2009; if the 401(k) plan you participated in ceased operation before then, you won't find it here.
Source: Fool.com
