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Think back over every job you've held since your twenties. If even one of them offered a traditional pension, and you left before you started collecting it, there's a real chance that money is still sitting somewhere with your name on it.
Pension income still matters for a meaningful share of current retirees, even as fewer employers offer it to new hires. Companies merge, close, and change names, and the paperwork connecting you to an old plan can get lost long before the money does. A federal database exists specifically to reconnect the two.
Choose your next move
Pick what sounds most like your situation
This sets the starting point for your search.
The plan may have been taken over by a new administrator you've never heard of.
Interactive toolLog every plan and office you contactOld pension searches often touch more than one office. Keep a running record here as you go, starting with your A former employer closed, merged, or changed its name.Show the toolHide the tool
Track offices, issues, promised next steps, and follow-up dates in one running log.
How Pensions Go Missing
Most old pensions aren't lost in the sense of being gone. They're lost in the sense that the plan administrator has no working address for you. If your former employer's pension plan ended and it was insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the PBGC becomes the plan's records keeper and pays out benefits for people it can't locate.
The PBGC's Missing Participants Program covers more than just traditional pensions. It also holds unclaimed benefits from some terminated small-business defined benefit plans, PBGC-insured multiemployer plans, and certain defined contribution plans like old 401(k)s.
ChecklistGather this before you searchHaving these ready makes the search itself quick.Show the checklistHide the checklist
0 of 3 done.
Search the Federal Database
The PBGC's unclaimed benefits search only asks for your last name and the last four digits of your Social Security number. The list is updated quarterly, so it's worth checking again later even if today's search comes up empty.
If the PBGC search doesn't find a match, the plan may not have been insured by PBGC at all. The Department of Labor runs a separate search specifically for abandoned defined contribution plans, which is the more likely home for an old 401(k) from a small employer that shut down.
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Name the employer you'll search first
Naming it now makes the tracker above easier to fill in as you go.
While you're pulling old paperwork together, it's a good time to check the rest of your retirement documents too. Read Half of Pre-Retirees Have an Outdated Plan. Fix Yours in One Afternoon.
If You Find a Match, or If You Don't
A match on the PBGC site gives you a case number and a way to start a claim. Have your Social Security number and current address ready, and expect to confirm your identity before any payment moves.
No match doesn't necessarily mean no pension. Some plans were never insured by PBGC and are handled entirely by a private plan administrator or insurance company. If you remember the employer's name, a call to the PBGC's contact center at 1-800-400-7242 can help you figure out where else to look.
TimelineWork through it in orderMost of this takes minutes per step, not hours.Show the timelineHide the timeline
Search by last name and the last four digits of your Social Security number, starting with the employer you named in mind.
Check whether an old 401(k)-type plan from a closed employer shows up there instead.
Have your Social Security number and current address ready to confirm your identity.
Save your plan
Save what you searched and found here so you don't repeat the same steps later.
Common questions
How do I search for an old pension?
Start with the PBGC's Find Unclaimed Retirement Benefits search, which only asks for your last name and the last four digits of your Social Security number. If that doesn't find a match, try the Department of Labor's Abandoned Plan Search, which covers old 401(k)-type plans from employers that closed.
What if my old employer went out of business?
If the plan was a traditional pension insured by the PBGC, the PBGC takes over as the records keeper and pays benefits it can't otherwise deliver. If it was a 401(k)-type plan instead, check the Department of Labor's abandoned plan search, which is built for exactly that situation.
What information do I need to claim a pension I find?
Have your Social Security number and current address ready. The PBGC will confirm your identity before releasing any payment, so it helps to also have old pay stubs, a plan statement, or an employment record on hand if you have them.
