Did you receive a letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) stating that you MAY be entitled to some private pension benefits? View a sample letter.
The SSA Notice does NOT necessarily mean that you are owed a benefit. Learn more about what the letter could mean for your retirement.
You received this letter because you filed a claim for Social Security benefits. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) records indicate that you participated in a pension plan, and the IRS provided this information to the Social Security Administration.
Your participation in the pension plan does NOT necessarily mean that you are owed a benefit. You may have already received some or all of any earned benefits.
When a defined benefit pension plan fails, PBGC takes over the pension plan and becomes statutory trustee of the plan. PBGC sends a letter to the plan's participants to inform them that PBGC is now responsible for the plan.
Sometimes PBGC does not get complete or current participant records. If you did not receive a trusteeship letter but believe you are entitled to a PBGC benefit, you can call our Customer Contact Center for assistance.
If you received an SSA Notice and participated in a defined benefit plan that failed, you may be due a benefit from PBGC. PBGC may owe you pension benefits if:
- PBGC took over your plan after it ended (if you are not sure, see Find a Trusteed Pension Plan);
- You were fully qualified or vested in the plan before it ended; and
- You have not already received your benefit from the plan via, for example, a single lump-sum payment, an IRA rollover, or a purchased annuity.
If your plan ended in a standard termination, the plan administrator certified that all eligible participants and beneficiaries received their pension benefits. However, in rare circumstances, a participant or beneficiary may have been missed. In such cases, you may contact us at:
- 1-800-326-LOST (5678) [TTY/ASCII users may call 711.]
- Missing@pbgc.gov or
- PBGC Pension Search Program 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2101.
Please contact us so we can assist you.
PBGC's website has resources to help you learn more about locating retirement benefits:
- List of people we are looking for who may be owed a benefit
- List of plans we have trusteed
- List of ongoing pension plans we insure
- Finding a Lost Pension
- Additional External Resources for Finding an Unclaimed Pension
If you believe you are owed a benefit, but PBGC did not take over your pension, you may wish to contact the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) at 1-866-444-3272. EBSA has a list of frequently asked questions about the SSA Notice.