Finding a "lost" retirement account

[Anonymous]

My DH thinks he has a 401k account out there somewhere that was established by his previous employer, a small start-up, during the dot-com boom days circa 1998-2000. But he doesn't remember the investment company, doesn't have any paperwork, or even his tax returns from that period. Let's just say he was very disorganized before he met me, and never provided forwarding addresses when he moved. Is there any way to go about searching for this account? He's not in touch with any other former employees. Should we just start calling around to Fidelity, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Does the company still exist? Start with HR there.

[Anonymous]

If his balance was less than 5k, the company should have either paid him out as a lump sum or if in the past couple of years, rolled it into an ira.

If he does nothing, it will eventually catch up with him, but it could take awhile. Retirement plans report when ex-employees have remaining balances on form Ssa-8905 as a code A. Then once didtributed, the plan must report them on same form as a code D. If one is reported code A but not code D, the IRS will find you and send a letter that you may have a balance and who you should contact.

[Anonymous]

All plans are not required to pay out the lump sum under $5k per the PPs post. I work in HR and my plan does not require that we do this for inactive participants although we are allowed if we chose to. If someone is inactive their money can technically sit in our portfolio for years.

[Anonymous]

Go to the 401k forums at benefitslink.com and ask, they will have the answer for you.

[Anonymous]

OP here, sorry if I was not clear -- his former company, like many start-ups of that era, is no longer in business. Went down in flames. Thanks for the advice, PPs.

[Anonymous]

Not sure if it works, but there are some sites that claim to be able to tell you if there are unclaimed balances in your name.

Do a search for "unclaimed money".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, sorry if I was not clear -- his former company, like many start-ups of that era, is no longer in business. Went down in flames. Thanks for the advice, PPs.

Has he checked with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp?