Finding a Lost Pension

Looking for a pension fund can be highly confusing. For that reason, once you have gathered as much of the information mentioned above as possible, it is important to look for guidance where you can find it. Here are some potentially helpful allies.

The U. S. Department of Labor

ERISA brought the Department of Labor into the business of protecting the pension rights of workers in the private sector. Within the Department, the Pension and Welfare Benefit Administration’s (PWBA) Division of Technical Assistance & Inquiries and the PWBA’s 15 field offices provide assistance to individuals who are having difficulty with their pensions. (Addresses and phone numbers for the PWBA offices are listed in Appendix B.)

The benefit advisors are experienced in all aspects of ERISA. They can provide you general information about your rights and will intervene with administrators of the fund on your behalf if necessary. They can also assist you in your search for a “missing plan.”

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

PBGC maintains a computerized list of individuals who are entitled to benefits from pension plans that PBGC has taken over, but who cannot be located. (See the box on page 14.) Since 1994, PBGC also has maintained a Pension Search Program that accepts benefits from terminating defined benefit plans if the plan administrator has been unable to locate all participants entitled to retirement benefits. The PBGC list constitutes a potential short cut for some retired workers or spouses looking for their pensions.

Pension Counseling Projects

A number of free pension counseling services were initiated, through grants from the U. S. Administration on Aging, in the mid- and late 1990s.

They provide free pension counseling to individuals in their service area. Many specialize in “hard cases,” including those in which individuals are unable to locate their pension plans. A number of states, including

some of the largest ones, have such counseling services. (Names, addresses, and phone numbers of these projects are listed in Appendix C.)

The Reference Desk of a Nearby Library

Most libraries will have resources – printed directories and computerized data bases – that can help in your search. The directories may be helpful in tracing a company: for example, the library may have directories listing acquisitions and mergers going back a number of years. Workers at the Reference Desk can help you use these sources. In most cases, they can also help you use one of the library’s computers in your search.