‘Retirement Savings Lost and Found’ DOL Searchable Online Database

SECURE 2.0 amended part 5 of subtitle B of title I of ERISA to add Section 523, which assigned the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) the long overdue task of establishing a searchable online “Retirement Savings Lost and Found” database by December 29, 2024. The purpose of the database is to facilitate retirement plan participants’ search for missing retirement benefits. Individuals who may have lost track of their retirement plans can search for the contact information of their plan administrator to file a claim for benefits that they may be owed under the plan.

The DOL issued a notice, Voluntary Information Collection Request Announcement, announcing the start of DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) information collection request process. The information is collected from retirement plan administrators, recordkeepers, and third-party administrators and used to establish the Retirement Savings Lost and Found online searchable database.

Information may be submitted at https://lostandfound-intake.dol.gov/. Providing the data for separated vested participants needed to populate the lost and found database is currently voluntary, but DOL requests that the information be submitted as soon as possible before December 29, 2024, and updated at least annually (preferably more frequently) to keep the database up to date.

DOL issued a DOL Fact Sheet providing instructions on how to populate the database and the required information: the full name and social security number of separated vested participants aged 65 or older who are owed a vested benefit and the current contact information for the plan administrators.

This should be helpful not only to individuals trying to locate lost benefits and plan sponsors with "lost" participants for whom no current contact information is available. Paying off those "lost" participants would decrease the number of participants with account balances and in some circumstances could potentially eliminate the need for a plan audit.

Plan sponsors should watch for future guidance as this is an ongoing project.