The True ‘Cost’ of ‘The True Cost of Forgotten 401(k) Accounts’
An update of a so-called “study” has been making the rounds—again—and its authors have doubled-down (and then some) on the assumptions in an updated version. I’m referring to something called “ The True Cost of Forgotten 401(k) Accounts (2023) ”—an update to a report circulated about a year ago of the same title (sans the “2023” qualifier) by a firm called Capitalize. The first report claimed that there was $1.35 trillion in “forgotten” 401(k) accounts—the latest iteration has upped that number to $1.65 trillion. That’s right, $1.65 TRILLION. Not that the report’s authors make it hard to be incredulous about their results. Their executive summary claims that a full 25%—that’s a full QUARTER—of all 401(k) plan assets are, by their definition, “forgotten.” And if you’ve ever “left behind” a 401(k) account at a previous employer—well, apparently you’ve “forgotten” that account by their definition. Now if that definition of “forgotten” winds up being more cr...