Are you due a pension benefit, but your old employer has gone out of business and you don’t know where to go to collect your money? With the current trend of frequent job changing and working for startup companies it is easy for an individual to have earned some sort of pension benefit and then the company eventually goes out of business. You are entitled to your benefits, and there is help available:
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Missing Participant Program
1200 K Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20005-4026
800-326-LOST
www.pbgc.gov
When contacting the PBGC be sure to have as much information available as possible including your name, address, phone number, SSN, birth date, name and location of the employer and the dates you were employed there. Additionally if you have any documents issued by the plan itself be sure to have the nine-digit Employer Identification Number (EIN) and the three-digit plan identification number which are typically listed somewhere on the plan documents.
Author: Jeremy Vohwinkle
My name is Jeremy Vohwinkle, and I’ve spent a number of years working in the finance industry providing financial advice to regular investors and those participating in employer-sponsored retirement plans.
