The typical American will have worked at seven employers over the course of their careers, accruing all sorts of experience but often leaving behind something hard to replace: their retirement savings accounts.

It's a big problem: Whether it's inertia, neglect or simple forgetfulness, 15 million orphaned 401(k) accounts representing more than $1 trillion in investment dollars littered the financial landscape in 2010.

According to an ING Direct USA survey, 50 percent of American adults who've participated in a 401(k) or equivalent retirement plan left an account at a previous employer.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.