Practical Tip of the Day: Forgot a Retirement Account at an Old Job? The Labor Department's Free Official Database Can Find It

 

How many jobs have you changed since you came to America? If you ever had a 401(k) or a pension at a company you left, there may be money sitting there in your name — and the U.S. Department of Labor runs a free official tool to help you find it: the Retirement Savings Lost and Found, at lostandfound.dol.gov.

What is it?

The database is run by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), part of the Department of Labor. It was created under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (Section 303) and opened to the public on December 27, 2024. It is one central place to search for retirement plans tied to your Social Security number from old private-sector and union jobs — 401(k)s and traditional pension plans. If there is a match, the result gives you the plan's name and the contact information for the plan administrator, so you can claim your money yourself.

How to search (the site's own steps):

1. Verify your identity through Login.gov. You need an ID-proofed Login.gov account: your legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, a mobile device, and front-and-back photos of an active driver's license or state ID. This step exists because the search runs on your SSN — and only you can search your own record.
2. Go to lostandfound.dol.gov, sign in, re-enter your Social Security number and click "Search."
3. View your results: any plans linked to your number are listed, with contact information for each plan's administrator.
4. Contact the plan administrators directly: only they can confirm whether benefits are still owed to you and start your claim.

Four things to know before you celebrate — or give up:

• It is a locator, not a bank. The database holds no money, decides no eligibility, and pays no benefits. A match only proves you once participated in that plan; your benefits may already have been paid out, rolled over, or turned into an annuity. The plan administrator is the only confirmation.
• No match does NOT mean nothing exists. The data is still being built — it includes historical Social Security Administration Form 8955-SSA records, plan administrators are still adding updated information, and the earliest submissions focused on separated participants aged 65 and older. Search again later, and try the backup routes below.
• Not everything is in it. The database does not cover individual IRAs, government plans (city, state or federal), plans of certain religious organizations, or Social Security benefits themselves.
• The scale is huge: retirement researchers estimate about 31.9 million forgotten 401(k) accounts in America, holding roughly $2.1 trillion. If you have changed jobs a few times, the odds are not small.

No match? Try these official routes too:

• A pension from a plan that ended: if an old employer went out of business or its pension plan was terminated, search the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) unclaimed retirement benefits search at pbgc.gov (last name + last 4 digits of your SSN).
• Money turned over to a state: some old balances end up in state unclaimed-property programs — search free through unclaimed.org (the official NAUPA directory) or your state's own site.
• Free human help: EBSA Benefits Advisors at AskEBSA.dol.gov or 1-866-444-3272.

The scam warning — in the Labor Department's own words:

DOL will never call, text or email you to ask for your password or one-time passcode, will never contact you to walk you through account verification, and does not charge any fee to recover funds. Anyone who calls offering to "release" your account for a payment is a scammer — hang up. The search itself is completely free: type the address yourself — lostandfound.dol.gov — don't follow links from strange messages, and never pay a person or company that claims it can recover your money "on DOL's behalf."

This is general information for educational purposes, not financial advice; for your own situation, talk to a licensed financial adviser.

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor / EBSA — the official Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database site (lostandfound.dol.gov) and DOL news release (Nov 18, 2024); Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation — "Tips for finding an unclaimed retirement benefit" (pbgc.gov).