Senators Steve Daines and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today introduced the bipartisan Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act to protect Americans' retirement savings.

"Working Americans are losing hard-earned dollars up until the time when they need it most - their retirement.  When an employee leaves a job, its often hard for them to keep track of their retirement accounts during these transitional times," Daines stated. "This is a commonsense approach that will empower individuals to take control of their retirement future."

The Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act uses the data employers are already required to report to create a national, online, lost and found for Americans' retirement accounts. This means that with the click of a button, any worker can locate all of their former employer-sponsored retirement accounts.

"Our country faces a retirement crisis, and it's important that all workers have a real chance to build retirement security. But today, millions of Americans are losing critical savings when they move between jobs," Warren said. "This bipartisan bill will help protect the retirement savings employees have earned."

The Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act also:

  • Allows employers to more easily invest abandoned accounts into target date funds rather than money-market funds. According to the GAO, $1,000 in a target date account was projected to grow to $2,700 over thirty-years whereas a $1,000 in a money market account was reduced to $0.
  • Allows for "orphaned" funds with balances less than $1,000 to be transferred to Treasury securities, such as the myRA, so that balances earn a positive return.

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