You, or someone you know, may be owed a pension. Search below using the participant’s or beneficiary’s last name, the name of the company that provided the pension, or the state of the company’s location. This is a service of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
PLEASE NOTE: Their list of unclaimed pensions is limited to information about people whom PBGC has yet been unable to contact and does not include information about all people for whom PBGC provides, or will provide, a pension.
Download a spreadsheet with the complete list of unclaimed pensions ordered by last name or ordered by company name [XLS]. For more details on the process of finding a lost pension, consult our publication, Finding a Lost Pension[PDF].
I found an unclaimed pension. What should I do?
Click the linked name of the participant owed an unclaimed pension and fill out the subsequent secure form. Submit the completed form to PBGC and we will contact you. You can also contact PBGC and a PBGC Customer Care Representative will be happy to assist.
I didn’t find an unclaimed pension. Where do I go from here?
Check to see if PBGC insures your pension plan. PBGC insures the pensions of most private companies. While we have limited information about the pension plans we insure and have not taken over, finding your PBGC-insured pension plan can get you pointed in the right direction. Be sure that the unclaimed pension you are looking for is not one of the common exceptions that PBGC does not insure.
Find out if PBGC has taken over your pension plan by searching for a PBGC-trusteed pension plan. If you find your trusteed pension plan but PBGC has not been in contact with you, we suggest you contact PBGC.
Read the “Searching” section of our publication, Finding a Lost Pension [PDF]. It’s full of useful suggestions such as who to contact and where to look.
PBGC also makes available summary plan descriptions (SPDs) filed from 1975 to 1991. View Requesting a Summary Plan Description for more information.
Additional Resources External to PBGC:
- The Administration on Aging’s Pension Counseling and Information Program provides assistance to older Americans searching for lost pensions.
- The Pension Rights Center is a nonprofit consumer organization that provides information on pension-related topics and hosts PensionHelp America, an online resource for connecting individuals with counseling projects, government agencies, and legal service providers that offer free information and assistance.
- The Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Abandoned Plan Program provides assistance finding abandoned pension plans and the employers associated with those plans.
- USA.gov offers resources to connect citizens with unclaimed money from the U.S. government.
- Learn more about pensions offered to veterans and their survivors through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Information about federal and military pensions is available from the Office of Personnel Management, Thrift Savings Plan, and Department of Defense.
- The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board administers retirement benefits for railroad workers and their families.
- For state and local pension plans, visit state government websites or municipality websites and contact the applicable personnel office.
- The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators runs www.unclaimed.org, a free tool to search for unclaimed assets in any state you’ve lived in.
- The National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits is a nationwide, secure database of retirement plan account balances that have been left unclaimed.
- Your investments in life and health insurance are protected, up to legal limits, by State Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Offices.
- Learn about benefits from the Social Security Administration.
- While PBGC is not associated with 401(k) plans, the Internal Revenue Service’s 401(k) Overview and the Department of Labor’s Retirement Plans, Benefits & Savings page provide information about 401(k) plans.
What does an asterisk (*) next to a participant’s name mean?
An asterisk next to a participant’s name means that PBGC is uncertain whether the person is owed a benefit from the pension plan based on the records currently available to PBGC (for example, a company may have sent PBGC a name but with a zero benefit). However, we encourage you to contact PBGC for a determination. You may provide additional documentation that may establish an entitlement to a benefit.
What if the participant who earned the unclaimed pension is deceased?
If the participant is deceased, please inform PBGC. See Report the death of a PBGC participant.
If you are a beneficiary of the deceased participant and you find the participant’s name here, please contact PBGC to find out if you are entitled to a benefit. Beneficiaries normally receive payments less than what the participant would have received.