Did you lose your company 401(k) when switching jobs? Well, you may be in luck. There is a proposed retirement legislation that’s pending in Congress that will be proposing a “lost and found database to help locate those accounts”.
As people change their jobs from one company to another — “the average is 12 jobs, according to one government study”, they tend to lose their company retirement plans. “More than 16 million accounts of $5,000 or less remained in workplace plans from 2004 through 2013″, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.
The provision in the congressional proposal would create “an office at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to oversee and administer the lost and found program”. It would accept account transfers of under $1,000 from plans and would try to locate the owner. They also mentioned that people would have the ability to search for their missing plans in the database as well.
“If the company has moved to South Carolina or New Zealand or wherever, or is now Company Z not Company X, the lost and found will have that information,” said Karen Ferguson, president of the Pension Rights Center, a consumer advocacy group.
If you have an old 401(k) account or pension you are unable to track down, you first should contact your former employer to see if you can track it down. Hopefully soon this new plan pending in Congress passes in order to help millions across the country stay on top of their hard earned money. If you have any questions about your 401(k) and how to take the next steps if you have started a new job, please let us know at info@shermanwealth.com or schedule a complimentary 30-minute call here.
