The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has initiated an information collection process aimed at establishing the Retirement Savings Lost and Found database. This online search tool is designed to help workers locate lost retirement savings they have earned.
Retirement plans, including pension and 401(k) plans, sometimes lose track of participants who are owed benefits. These individuals are referred to as "missing participants." There are several reasons for this issue, such as incomplete recordkeeping or changes in employment status. Additionally, workers may lose track of their retirement plans if their former employer goes out of business or merges with another company.
The SECURE 2.0 Act mandates EBSA to create the Retirement Savings Lost and Found database to assist missing participants and their beneficiaries in finding their retirement benefits. To build this database, the department requires collaboration from retirement plan administrators, recordkeepers, and other service providers to voluntarily provide necessary information as a preliminary step towards making the database publicly accessible.
Data collection for the Retirement Savings Lost and Found database began on November 18, 2024, with a planned public launch by December 29, 2024. EBSA will collaborate with plan administrators, recordkeepers, and others to populate the database before its public release.
"The fundamental purpose of any job-based retirement plan is to pay promised benefits to the workers who participate in those plans and plan beneficiaries," stated Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security Lisa M. Gomez. "Our goal, which we believe plan sponsors and administrators and their service providers share, is to make sure that workers and their beneficiaries receive all the retirement benefits they earned and were promised through their working careers so that they can look forward to a secure and enjoyable retirement."
Gomez emphasized that "the Retirement Savings Lost and Found database will be another tool to help plans carry out this responsibility. We all need to work together to achieve that goal, and we appreciate the partnership of the retirement plan community in moving forward."
The notice of information collection request outlines specific data elements being sought by EBSA and provides guidance on how information can be submitted. The agency has engaged with stakeholders to ensure effective data collection and protection strategies.
Since 2017, EBSA's enforcement efforts have recovered over $7 billion in retirement benefits paid directly to missing participants and beneficiaries through extensive investigations into circumstances involving missing participants.
For further details, interested parties can read the full notice of information collection request or review a fact sheet on the matter.
