A staggering $1.65 trillion in retirement savings accounts is now forgotten, lost and unclaimed, according to a new study.
A surge in career changes throughout the so-called “great resignation” has triggered a major rise in lost 401(k) accounts, says the savings consolidation company Capitalize.
The firm the number of forgotten accounts increased by more than 20% in 2021 and 2022 to a total of 29.2 million accounts with $1.65 trillion in assets.
“These numbers suggest that one in five job-changers with a 401(k) left that account behind when changing jobs during 2021 and 2022.
The remaining accounts were rolled over into an IRA, a 401(k), or prematurely “cashed out” or withdrawn. The 4.4 million accounts left behind in 2022 were nearly 60% higher than the 2.8 million accounts left behind in a benchmark year, as estimated in our May 2021 white paper.”
The financial resource platform Bankrate details several ways that people can track down a forgotten 401(k).
One is to the Department of Labor’s website, which maintains records of public and private sector businesses that provide employee benefit plans.
Bankrate also recommends people contact their former employer directly and ask human resources to look up whether you took part in a 401(k) plan.
There are also publicly available databases that track unclaimed assets, such as the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators website, which says it has helped 10’s of millions of people track down more than $4 trillion in unclaimed property.
