Many elderly Americans are entitled to a lot of money that they may have forgotten about or do not know how to locate, because they have lost track of old retirement and pension plan information.

It makes sense when you retire to ensure access to all funds to which you are entitled. Unfortunately, too many people are not aware of retirement funds to which they are entitled.

It is quite common for people to have a retirement account through an old employer that they have forgotten about. When you leave a job that had a 401(k) plan, for example, you are still entitled to your funds through that plan. This is true, even if you never did anything with the retirement funds after you left that job.

Even when people do remember these old accounts, they have trouble locating any information about them. Why? Because their old employers have closed, changed names or merged with some other company.

In total, this problem costs Americans some $150 billion that they are owed as Kiplinger reports in “Missing Retirement Accounts Cost Retirees Billions.”

There is a bipartisan piece of legislation in the Senate that would make things easier for people to find the money they are owed. It would require the creation of a central database, so people could search for their own accounts.

However, this legislation is being opposed by the industry, since it would increase their costs. It might be a good idea to let your Senator know your opinion, so you can determine whether you are owed money that you do not know about.

Reference: Kiplinger (April 27, 2018) “Missing Retirement Accounts Cost Retirees Billions.”

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