Workers who changed jobs and left retirement savings behind now account for approximately 31.9 million forgotten 401(k) accounts holding a combined $2.1 trillion in assets, a record sum that keeps growing as the American workforce churns through employers. A free federal search tool, created under the SECURE 2.0 Act and run by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, lets anyone check whether old plan money is waiting for them. The catch: the registry depends on plan sponsors submitting records, and that data collection is still ramping up, which means billions in retirement wealth could stay invisible to the people who earned it.
A $2.1 trillion gap between workers and their own money
The scale of the problem hit a new peak on September 30, 2025, when Capitalize, a financial technology firm, released an analysis produced in collaboration with the Center for Retirement Research. That study pegged forgotten 401(k) assets at $2.1 trillion spread across roughly 31.9 million accounts. The figure reflects a workforce pattern that has accelerated over the past decade: people switch jobs more often, and many never roll over their old employer-sponsored plans into a new account or an IRA.
Each abandoned account represents real money that is not being actively managed by its owner. Some accounts sit in default investment options, accruing fees that slowly erode the balance. Others belong to workers who simply lost track of a former employer’s plan administrator after a merger, acquisition, or company closure. The result is a pool of retirement wealth that is technically owned but functionally stranded.
The Capitalize analysis suggests that forgotten balances tend to be smaller on a per-account basis but add up to a huge total because of how frequently Americans change jobs. Younger workers, gig workers, and people in industries with high turnover are especially likely to accumulate multiple small accounts. Over time, those scattered balances can become harder to track, especially if contact information goes stale or former employers change recordkeepers.
How the federal Lost and Found registry works, and where it falls short
Congress directed the creation of the Retirement Savings Lost and Found database as part of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. The online portal operated by the Employee Benefits Security Administration requires a Login.gov account to search. Users provide basic identifying information, and if a match exists, the tool connects the searcher with the plan administrator that may owe benefits. The database generally excludes plans from government employers and non-participating religious organizations, so public-sector workers and some faith-based employees will not find their accounts here.
The Department of Labor announced the start of its information-collection phase in late 2024, asking plan administrators to submit participant data that would populate the registry. In a subsequent update, the agency described how it would gather records from plan sponsors and coordinate with existing reporting systems to reduce duplicative filings. Yet no official DOL figures have been published showing how many plans have actually uploaded records or how many workers have successfully located benefits through the live portal. That absence of performance data raises a practical question: how complete is the registry right now?
Small plans, those with fewer than 100 participants, represent the vast majority of employer-sponsored retirement plans in the United States. These plans are often administered by small businesses with limited compliance staff and tighter budgets. If those sponsors are slowest to submit records, a disproportionate share of the $2.1 trillion in forgotten assets could remain invisible through the registry’s early years. No public data yet confirms or refutes that pattern, but the structural incentives point in that direction. Large recordkeepers serving Fortune 500 companies have the infrastructure to batch-upload data, while smaller employers may need more time and support to comply.
The Labor Department has emphasized outreach and technical assistance to plan sponsors as it rolls out the registry. In a 2024 news release, officials framed the initiative as part of a broader effort to help workers claim the benefits they have already earned and to modernize oversight of retirement plans. The agency has also signaled that it will use existing enforcement tools to address plans that chronically fail to keep track of terminated participants or to pay out vested balances.
What workers can do now
For workers, the new registry is a starting point rather than a complete solution. Because the database is still being populated, people who suspect they have an old 401(k) should combine a search of the federal portal with more traditional steps: contacting former employers’ HR departments, checking old benefit statements and tax records, and reviewing prior-year returns for Form 1099-R or Form 5498 entries that might point to past rollovers or distributions.
Workers who find a forgotten account face another set of decisions. They can often leave the money in the old plan, roll it into a new employer’s plan, or move it into an individual retirement account, depending on plan rules and fees. Comparing investment options and costs is critical, especially for small balances where annual charges can meaningfully reduce long-term growth. Financial planners frequently recommend consolidating scattered accounts to simplify oversight and reduce the risk of losing track again.
Policy experts watching the rollout say the registry’s long-term impact will depend on continued enforcement and data transparency. Publishing regular statistics on how many plans are reporting, how many accounts are discoverable, and how much money has been reunited with workers would help the public gauge whether the system is closing the $2.1 trillion gap or merely mapping a fraction of it. For now, the Lost and Found is an important new tool, but not yet a guarantee that every forgotten 401(k) will be brought back into view.
