How do I find out if I have a 401k?

Question

I know I have a 401K with previous work...how do I find out where it is? I don't know what they invested in I'm assuming it was the company I worked for.

Answer 1

You need to contact the HR department of your former employer.  You will want to either roll it over into your new company's 401(k), or open an IRA.  You can do that with a bank, possibly your insurance company, or a brokerage firm.

They will be able to get you the proper paperwork to do the rollover.  Also, you should be receiving quarterly statements that should tell you where the funds are being invested.

Answer 2

when you find out all about your 401K, you should afterwards keep on top of what it's doing. in any case you should not have it invested in the company you work for, but instead in diversified investments outside of your company. the reason for that is that in a worse-case scenario, your company could go belly up, in which case you would lose both your job AND your 401K. this has happened too many times, one example of which being Enron...

Answer 3

1. Call the Human Resources Dept and ask.

2. They are required by law* to send at least quarterly statement to you if you are enrolled in a 401(k) or other company sponsored retirement plan. The company can face serious liability of they fail to do this. if you moved, changed addresses, then you need to tell them you new address.

3. They are required by law* to provide you with various investment options if a company has a 401(k) or other employer sponsored retirement plan. if you truly have no idea what you were invested in, and you made no elective choices, there could be some liability for the company.

4. Roll over the 401(k) into a self-directed IRA.

Answer 4

First, contact the human resources or employee benefits department of your former employer.  If they are no longer accessible , you can call the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation at telephone [phone].  Have available when you call, your Soc. Sec. number, the dates that you worked for the company, or at least approximate employment dates.  You should sit and make a list of the names you can remember of the top  company executives and your manager while you worked there.

If you have any benefits coming to you, they are very good at finding them!  Its a government funded agency.

Answer 5

You should have been getting statements from the 401(k) custodian if you bothered to keep them informed of your address.  Contact the old employer's H.R. dept.