What happens to your 401(k) when the company merges or closes
When an employer merges, sells a unit or closes, its plan is usually merged, spun off or ended. How to tell which, and where to ask.
A merger does not erase your account. One of three things usually happens to the plan, and each one leaves a trace in the plan's annual Form 5500 report.
1. The plan is merged into another plan
The money moves into the buyer's plan or a sister plan. The old plan files a final report showing assets transferred out; the receiving plan reports a transfer in. Ask the receiving plan, and name the old plan in your letter.
2. Part of the plan is spun off
If a unit or location was sold, the people who worked there can be moved to the buyer's plan while everyone else stays. If you worked in the part that was sold, ask the buyer's plan as well.
3. The plan ends
When a plan terminates, it must pay out or roll over every account. People who cannot be reached usually get an IRA opened in their name at an IRA provider, or, for some plans, their money goes to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's missing participants program. The plan's distribution records show which.
How to tell which happened
Search the employer and your years. Attovar reads the plan's filings, follows transfers to the plan that holds the money today, and drafts a letter to that plan that names the old plan.
Sources
Reviewed October 2026. Information only, not legal or tax advice.