Shelley EIf you changed jobs several times before retiring, you could have unclaimed retirement benefits that need to be tracked down. Here’s how to do just that.
Believe it or not, it’s common for retirement accounts to get lost in the shuffle. When you move, change jobs, or life simply gets in the way, it’s easy to forget you have those benefits that you earned during your working years. To see if you have any retirement benefits waiting to be claimed, follow these tips:
1. Get in touch with past employers.
Changing a job could have caused you to leave a 401 (k), pension, or another retirement account in a former employer’s hands. If you think this is the case, look for the company’s human resources department and give them a call. Tell them you’d like to speak with the plan administrator or whoever is in charge of benefits. As a former employee, you have every right to ask for this service, so be persistent until they give you the answer you’re looking for.
You may have a harder time completing this goal if the company merged, was bought out, or went out of business. Don’t let this stand in your way, though, as there are other methods to find unclaimed retirement benefits besides directly contacting a company.
2. Use the Internet to find unclaimed retirement benefits.
Several online resources can help you track down those lost retirement funds from the past. Here are some excellent places to start your search:
Unclaimed.org
This National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators website can help you kill several birds with one stone. Not only can you use it to find unclaimed retirement benefits to boost your income, but you can also use it to find:
- Old checking and savings accounts
- Uncashed dividends
- Insurance payments
- Unredeemed money orders
- Uncashed payroll checks
- And more
The site is both easy and safe to use, so go here to get started with your search.
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
You can use this government agency to track down any mission pension benefits for yourself or family members. The agency specializes in insurance pensions from the private sector and has a vast database that could contain what you’re looking for.
Missing Assets
Go here to search for unclaimed pension and retirement accounts, plus much more. The site boasts separate search functions for lost IRAs, unclaimed 401 (k)s, and missing pensions.
3. Get help from a financial advisor.
If you have no luck contacting former employers or searching the Internet on your own, you may want to solicit the help of a financial advisor. They can help you track lost retirement benefits, in addition to managing ones that you have.
When starting with an advisor, they’ll ask about your employment history and the benefits that came with each job. As they do this, they’ll be able to pinpoint any periods where retirement accounts may have been overlooked as you transferred from job to job.
Even if you think there’s no way you have unclaimed retirement benefits, try the tips above. You’d be surprised at what’s out there, just waiting for you to claim it.
Mark Luigi
