(MONEY Magazine) – Dusting Off an Old 401(k), with Help

Q About four years ago I left a job where I had a 401(k) with a small amount of money in it. I recently tried to find my account to roll it over but had no luck. Now what? --Allison Grant, Denver

ANSWER While you were busy finding a new job, getting married and moving on with your life, the company you worked for went belly-up. Without realizing it, you became a participant in what's called an orphan plan, one that has been abandoned by the employer who once provided it.

It's not as Dickensian as it sounds. When your plan becomes orphaned, there are four parties involved: you, your former employer, the company that provided the plan (ADP, in this case) and a middleman your former employer must appoint to keep the plan running after the employer goes out of business. The middleman in this case was a former company officer. Trouble is, you would have no way of knowing that. Even if you had tried to call ADP, the 401(k) provider, directly, it wouldn't have been legally obligated to help you--providers typically work only with the middleman, and they don't have to tell you who that person is. And unless you still have your four-year-old company phone contact list, finding him isn't easy.

Unless, that is, you seek help from the Department of Labor. There are thousands of accounts out there that are languishing like yours. (That's why it's almost never a good idea to leave a plan behind. For more information about rolling one over, go to cnnmoney.com/401krollover. End of lecture.) For that reason, the DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration has made it easy to find an office near you that can help you track down the middleman--just call 866-444-3272. We did, and we were given the name of a former officer at your old company, who then signed the distribution paperwork authorizing ADP to release your account to you. You've since rolled over your account, now worth $1,562.78--slightly less than its value four years ago, since there had been no new money invested in the account and administration fees took a bite. That's right: Even when you leave an account dormant, the fees are alive and well.

TIP When you leave a job, you usually should roll your 401(k) over into either your new employer's 401(k) or an IRA. The fewer plans you own, the easier it is to track your funds and keep up with changes to the plans.

Having a financial nightmare? Need an advocate or some good advice? E-mail Ellen McGirt at money_helps@moneymail.com.

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Reporting By Judy Feldman contributed to this article.