External Resources for Locating Benefits

Have you explored Find a lost retirement benefit prior to visiting these external resources?

Counseling Resources

• 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 Pension Action Center provides free legal counseling for workers and retirees who live or worked in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Illinois.
• The American Academy of Actuaries Pension Assistance List is intended to provide professional services to consumers who have questions about their pension plans.

Government and Military Pensions

• 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.
• For state and local pension plans, visit state government websites or municipality websites and contact the applicable personnel office.

Lost or Abandoned Pensions

• The National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits is a nationwide, secure database of retirement plan account balances that have been left unclaimed.
• The Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Abandoned Plan Program provides assistance finding abandoned pension plans and the employers associated with those plans. You may ask questions or report problems with your health or retirement plan via EBSA's Consumer Assistance page.
• The Department of Labor may have more information about your pension plan on their Form 5500 Search page.

Other Retirement Benefits

• Your investments in life and health insurance are protected, up to legal limits, by State Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Offices, as are pensions that have been transferred to an insurance company. The Pension Rights Center has a fact sheet on pension transfers.
• Learn about benefits from the Social Security Administration or about Social Security’s Potential Private Retirement Benefit Information Notice.
• The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board administers retirement benefits for railroad workers and their families.
• Medicare and Medicaid provide assistance with healthcare costs to those who are eligible.

Unclaimed Property

• The Internal Revenue Service may be able to assist if you are owed a refund from a recent tax year.
• 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.
• USA.gov offers resources to connect citizens with unclaimed money from the U.S. government.
• The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division finds labor law violations and gets the unpaid wages on behalf of workers. Search on the “Workers Owed Wages” (WOW) tool if you think you may be owed back wages collected by this office.