Retirement savings ‘lost and found’ helps retirees track down old 401(k)s, pensions — how it works

Older employees and retired people who have actually misplaced retirement cost savings from a previous company might gain from a reasonably brand-new resource to assist them reunite with those funds.

Of the 236,269 special visitors who logged onto the Labor Department’s Retirement Cost savings Lost and Found database from its launch in late December 2024 through completion of 2025, about 29.5%– 69,712– discovered an old 401( k), pension or other workplace retirement strategy related to their Social Security number, according to information supplied to CNBC by the firm.

The database presently just consists of details that refer to individuals age 65 or older.

While DOL does not track what occurs after that details is supplied to the user– and keeps in mind on the site that a favorable match is not a warranty of cash to claim– there’s a great chance that much of the users were reconnected with lost retirement funds, stated Samuel Krause, a partner with Hall Advantage Law in Los Angeles whose practice locations consist of staff member advantages and retirement strategies.

” We might not be speaking about any lots of money, however of that [29.5%] who got a favorable outcome, the majority of them” most likely discovered an old account, Krause stated.

As employees alter companies throughout their professions, it’s possible for numerous 401( k) accounts or other retirement advantages to get left, purposefully or mistakenly. The common U.S. employee holds about 13 tasks in between ages 18 and 58, according to a continuous Bureau of Labor Data study of individuals born in between 1957 and 1964.

An approximated 31.9 million 401( k) accounts stay with previous companies, amounting to about $2.1 trillion, according to 2025 research study from Capitalize, which assists individuals roll over office cost savings to Individual retirement accounts. The information consists of accounts that previous workers purposefully leave in their old strategy, for instance, to make the most of lower charges or more powerful lender defenses relative to Individual retirement accounts.

Understand that if your balance is under $7,000 when you leave a business, your company might roll over your balance to an individual retirement account if you do not do something about it yourself. If it’s under $1,000, the strategy might cash you out and send you a check.

Depending upon how frequently you change companies, it’s possible to misplace your cost savings and wind up with numerous accounts that you’re neglecting when it pertains to retirement preparation. For instance, business can be gotten or fail, or they might no longer have updated contact details for you.

” I constantly inform individuals to deal with old pension like missing out on puzzle pieces,” stated licensed monetary organizer Melissa Caro, creator of My Retirement Network in New York City City. “You can’t prepare properly if you do not understand what you own.”

The DOL’s database is the outcome of an arrangement consisted of in retirement legislation called Safe and secure 2.0, which was signed into law in December 2022. The expense needed the DOL to produce and keep a database to assist employees find pension they left with a previous company.

Nevertheless, the age-65 limit for details in the database indicates it’s not yet helpful for more youthful employees who have actually misplaced accounts with previous companies.

The Labor Department stated in a 2024 notification released in the Federal Register that it started constructing the database for an older age due to the fact that “such people are most likely to benefit quicker from a performance database than other age mates.” In its newest semiannual program, DOL suggested that it will propose guidelines associated with the details it gathers for the database, consisting of possibly widening it.

” I’m hoping a growth will consist of [any age],” stated Tyler Compton, director and handling lawyer for the Pension Action Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Compton stated the database has actually been a helpful tool for the center’s customers, who have actually discovered quantities varying from about $350 regular monthly from annuities (due to old pensions) to 401( k) accounts worth approximately $20,000.

The DOL’s database just consists of retirement advantages supplied by private-sector companies or unions. Specific retirement accounts and strategies sponsored by federal government entities or particular spiritual companies are not noted.

You can just look for accounts connected to your own Social Security number, the site notes. To put it simply, you presently can’t browse on behalf of your departed partner, although professionals prepare for that will alter at some time.

Employees who can’t presently gain from the DOL database have other opportunities to find old pension.

The Pension Advantage Warranty Corporation runs a Missing out on Individuals Program, which assists individuals whose strategies have actually ended. It does not track details on advantages or accounts connected to strategies that are still out there, which is what the Labor Department’s brand-new database does.

You likewise can look for old pension, in addition to down payment, savings account and other monetary residential or commercial property through your state’s unclaimed residential or commercial property program. The National Association of Unclaimed Residential or commercial property Administrators site consists of a U.S. map with links to each state’s unclaimed residential or commercial property database. To browse more than one state at a time, you can go to MissingMoney.com.