Okay, so I have an embarrassing question that a 39 year old man should be smart enough to know the answer to, but let's face it. I'm a financial dumbass. To make a long story short, years ago I worked for a company that had a 401k plan but I've long since changed companies and have no idea what ever became of it. Can anyone tell me how to track it down?

There is no national clearing house for 401(k) plans, so you have to be a bit of a sleuth. What you want to do is locate the administrator of the 401(k) plan - these are the people who are contracted by your employer to manage the plan, send out account statements etc. It's usually a bank, insurance company, or financial institution like Fidelity or Vanguard.

First thing to do is search your files for any old statements you may have. These statements will provide the name of the plan administrator and contact information. You should be receiving statements quarterly - if not perhaps you moved some time ago and failed to notify the plan admin.

If you have lost all your records, next suggestion is to call the HR department at your old employer and ask them who to contact. Or if you are still in touch with your old boss or any colleagues, try calling them and to see if they know who the plan administrator is. If you can't find any contact information on your old employer (for example if they are out of business), post back - there are ways to track old retirement plans for defunct companies through ERISA.

The final suggestion is go online and search for abandoned property in the state you lived in at the time. If you have not been receiving statements from the 401(k) plan administrator they may now consider you lost, and they should have turned your assets over to the state. Every state has a program to try to reunite people with their lost assets. Here is a free web site that lets you search your state's database of abandoned assets: Missing Money Free Search for Unclaimed Property - Officially endorsed By The States. It's a good idea to do a search on every state you ever lived in to see if there are abandoned assets in your name.

Good luck. Let us know if how your search goes.