If you are looking for your 401(k) check, this may actually be true. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federal agency, has long had a "missing participant program" which helps find pension plan participants who may have left their employers years earlier and are now owed pension benefits, but cannot be found. The program currently covers only terminated single-employer defined benefit (DB) pension plans (plans that pay benefits based on a formula defined in the plan and in the form of an annuity). The program does not cover defined contribution (DC) plans (plans that pay only the participant's account balance, e.g., a 401(k) plan).
I'm From the Government, and I'm Here to Help You
The Five Most Important Ages When Preparing for Retirement
Age 50.
This is the age at which you become eligible to put more of your wages into your 401(k) and IRA accounts, the so-called "catch-up contributions," and to receive any matching employer contributions on those catchup amounts.
Department of Labor Stepping Up Audits of Pension Plans
In 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it was stepping up efforts to ensure that terminated vested participants receive the pension benefits they are due under the terms of their plan. The DOL's primary targets? Large Fortune 500 defined benefit pension plans whose Form 5500 filings show high numbers of participants eligible for benefits, but not receiving them.
