I recently went on Social Security and was sent a 401k notice from the government saying I had this when I worked back in 1988. The company sold out to a company in Texas and I can not find them. I have never gotten a statement and did not even know about this 401k. How do I find my money? I only have a dollar amount and nothing else.

What you need to do is figure out what company is the administrator of the 401(k) plan, then you can call them to inquire about your account. The administartor is typically a bank, insurance company, or inverstment firm like Vanguard or Fidelity. You say you weren't aware of participating in a 401(k) plan, but at the time you would have had to sign up for it. So first thing is go through your files and see if you can find a statement, enrollment papers, or anything else that would give a clue as to who the administrator was. Next I suggest that if you can get in touch with your old boss or a colleague they may be able to tell you who administered the plan.

If that doesn't work you can try the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits (NRURB). They are responsible with keeping over 50,000 individual retirement accounts for individuals who have forgotten 401(k), profit sharing and other company sponsored plan balances that have been abandoned: https://www.unclaimedretirementbenefits.com/

An additional suggestion is to go on-line 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 by law they would 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: MissingMoney.com Unclaimed Property FREE SEARCH - Officially endorsed By The States, Provinces and Naupa . 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.