The ERISA consultants at the Retirement Learning Center Resource regularly receive calls from financial advisors on a broad array of technical topics related to IRAs, qualified retirement plans and other types of retirement savings plans. We bring Case of the Week to you to highlight the most relevant topics affecting your business.
A recent call with a financial advisor from New Jersey is representative of a common inquiry related to locating lost retirement plan benefits. The advisor asked:
“I have a client who has worked in the banking industry for decades and has changed jobs numerous times. Many of his former employers have merged with other institutions or no longer exist. He is not currently receiving any retirement benefits from these past employers, but feels certain he should be. How can he locate his lost retirement plan benefits?”
Highlights of the Discussion
Given the frequency with which the average U.S. worker changes jobs throughout his or her career (i.e., 12 times), as well as the merger and acquisition activity of the past few decades, it should not be surprising that some workers have lost track of their retirement plan assets. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires plan sponsors to make efforts to find missing plan participants.
Former participants can take matters into their own hands and search for retirement benefits to which they believe they are entitled. Below is a list of options for locating lost retirement plan assets. There may be other resources as well.
1. Contact former employer(s) directly if they still exist. Check old tax forms, Forms W-2 and other employment-related documents.
2. Contact the plan’s recordkeeper or TPA. This information likely appears on an old plan statement, if one is available.
3. Search the DOL’s Form 5500 database of filings (Form 5500/5500-SF Filing Search) for plan administrator contact information. Using the employer’s tax identification number may be helpful in locating employers and plans that have been merged or changed names.
4. Try the DOL’s searchable database of abandoned plans, which contains information on retirement plans that have been forsaken by their sponsors.
5. Search the PBGC’s database for unclaimed defined benefit plan pensions. Searchers can also try to locate a plan by whether it is insured or trusteed by the PBGC.
6. Every state has some type of unclaimed property program. Plan sponsors that failed to locate missing participants or beneficiaries may have escheated the retirement plan assets to their respective state programs. The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators is a not-for-profit organization that maintains a database of state programs to help individual’s find missing property.
7. Searchers could check with The National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits to see if a former employer has listed a particular person as a missing participant. The registry is a nationwide, secure database listing of retirement plan account balances that have been left unclaimed.
8. Watch for a Potential Private Retirement Plan Benefit Information notice from the Social Security Administration (SSA). It is a reminder about private employer retirement benefits that an individual may have earned, also called “deferred vested benefits.” The IRS provides the information to the SSA. It comes from the plan administrators of the private retirement plans in which workers participated.
9. The nonprofit organization Pension Help America may be able to link searchers with local and regional governmental offices to help locate retirement plan assets and/or solve other benefit issues.
Conclusion
Individuals who have lost track of their retirement plan benefits for whatever reason have several federal, state, regional and local resources available to help them find the retirement benefits to which they are entitled.
Any information provided is for informational purposes only. It cannot be used for the purposes of avoiding penalties and taxes. Consumers should consult with their tax advisor or attorney regarding their specific situation.
©2019, Retirement Learning Center, LLC. Used with permission.
