Question about 401ks.

[Lyric]

When I was much younger, I worked at a factory that processed turkeys. At some point, I remember signing papers to start contributing to a 401k, and I remember that money coming out of my paychecks every week. If I'm remembering correctly, at least part of that money was supposed to be invested in company stock, but I was only 18 at the time, and I didn't know a damned thing about investing or 401ks. I hardly paid any attention to it, other than to note that I had done it.

That was about 12 years ago. When I quit that job and started another one, I forgot all about the 401k. Since then, my former employer's company was sold to another company--the new company is still in business. I have no idea what happened to that money, and I don't know how to find out. Do 401ks just disappear if the company you work for is sold to another company, or if you quit, or both? It wasn't a LOT of money, but it was mine, and I'd like to know what happened to it.

[leftynyc]

1. I'm very far from an expert

but I have switched jobs where I had a 401k. Because that one did a very good job for me, I was able to keep it at my old company but the company would obviously no longer contribute - so now I have two funds. The money is there somewhere - call the new company, get Human Resources on the line and tell them your story. Do you remember getting statements from the fund? Did the mail stop when you weren't with the company anymore (which shouldn't have happened)?

[Dreamer Tatum]

2. First, you should be less cavalier about your own money.

Second, it's YOURS. Find out from the new company who's administering it, and contact them. Should be simple.

[FSogol]

3. Agreed. It is your money and still out their somewhere. Find the statements

and roll the money into a new account if you have one.

[Lyric]

6. Statements?

I don't think I've ever gotten a statement. This was a long time ago in a different state. Ugh. I had forgotten all about it until I found a former co-worker on Facebook. We got to talking about it, and both of us realized that we never heard anything about that money after we left the company.

[truebrit71]

11. Check with the company that bought out your old employer. They should have records.

"Old" 401(k) money doesn't just disappear it will sit there basically until such time as someone does something with it. As long as it hasn't been classified as "escheated" and given to the state it should still be there. Whether it has any value or not is another matter, especially if it was invested in stock of your old company that subsequently got bought out. But the first thing to do is find out where your old 401(k) is and the best place to do that is your former employer (not the IRS)..

[Lyric]

4. I *am* less cavalier about it now. That was a long time ago.

I was pretty clueless when I was 18, but I'm not 18 anymore.

I don't even know if they would have taken over that part of the paperwork or not. I know a lot of people lose their pensions when one company buys another; I thought maybe it was the same for 401ks.

[Dreamer Tatum]

9. No blame. You will need to call HR at the new company, and ask questions.

Should be pretty straightforward.

[Lochloosa]

5. Contact the IRS and ask them. It's still there and they can help you find it.

401k's don't "disappear".

[Lyric]

7. Ooooo really!? I didn't know that the IRS would have that information.

Thank you! I'll do that.

[cbdo2007]

8. Or call the HR department of the new company and they should have all that old information for you.

Or at least put you in touch with the 401K company so that you can roll the money over to something else if you'd like. Hope there's a lot in there for you.

[66 dmhlt]

10. 401(k) Money Reclamation

After a substantial length of time and with your previous employer no longer being in business, there's a strong possibility that your 401k money is no longer in a 401k.

When retirement plans are shut down, the plan sponsor (your previous employer) is obligated to try and get your money to you. Once they exhaust this process, then they can do a couple things.

1) Process a distribution (pay it out) of your 401k and withhold 100% for federal taxes. That way, if you have a valid social security number, the money will find you - although it will be the sum minus the federal taxes that were paid.
2) They can escheat the money to the State. In this case, check with your State's unclaimed property division - you may have some money waiting for you. And here's a link that provides a list of how to contact states WRT unclaimed property:

http://law.freeadvice.com/resources/unclaimed_property.htm