Ok fellas, I’m not to smart about financial stuff,,,
I was told that a place I had worked at 3 years ago was possibly putting stuff into a 401k account,,,I’ve been trying to get ahold of someone at the Human Resources department but can’t contact anyone,, always answering machine.
My question is this… if there was such a thing 3 years ago… would it still be there?

yes, what brokerage house fidelity, vanguard, other?? You might try contacting them.

YOU own the account NOT your former company...

I would think you would get quarterly reports in the mail if you had an account.

He is correct you should of been receiving statements showing gain/loss and % invested. Was any part of your income going into the 401K. If so, you should see that in your breakdown of your paycheck. If the company was putting money into it for you, they should of provided you with the information and amounts or percentages per pay. If you think there is an issue I would start emailing the HR person. This way you have a record.

you may not receive printed reports, I don't as have opted out of paper statements

The co might not send them to you or have a correct adress. HR should have the infor though

Do you have old pay stubs showing that they took out money for a 401k. Companies match what you put in usually, not just deposit money on your behalf. If you had it taken out of a check it is still out there somewhere. Mine is with Fidelity. It used to be with R Rowe Price. Just depends who they setup to run the accounts for whatever company you worked for at the time. Even if you had paystub though I don't think it would tell you who the account was with so that stinks.

Depending on the company you can just google what company manages their 401k and then contact them directly as previously mentioned

My concern is that if you were not being notified somehow, then you probably don’t have an account. Typically you provide information like address, beneficiary, etc

I had something like 10 bucks out of every paycheck… I know it’s not alot, but it was tough trying to manage bills on what I was making…wife is disabled so she couldn’t do much to help towards bills except for the little bit she gets every month… 600 bucks isn’t a whole lot.

How long did you work there? If you have contact with someone that still works there ask them.

if you were putting in that should be there. they may have matched a %. But some companies require you to be employed there for a minimum amount of time before you are vested in that match. the company my cousin just quit it was he would have to be there 10 years to keep the match and if he quit before he would get zero of the match. that's the longest period I have heard of 3 to 5 years is typical if they have that policy.

but what you put in should be somewhere.

If they were taking money out of your check for it, then it's somewhere John, you just need to find it, lol. I went through the same thing, only I waited like 5 or 6 years before I ever did anything about finding it. In my case, I still remembered the name of the firm that had operated it, so it was just a matter of contacting them and then having it rolled over into an IRA at the place of my choosing. Had to fill out and fax some forms and such.

Keep trying to get ahold of HR.... are they not returning your calls? Can you go there? HR should easily be able to give you a contact number for the 401k provider that you need.

Every company has a different plan with different requirements. PF makes a valid point about needing to be vested. You should at least be able to get your money back but maybe not the money the company matched.

it good to know before you quit a place I heard of a guy that quit and missed his vesting period by a week or something silly like that and it cost him thousands becuse that place had a longer vesting period. he could have waited easly.