I’m 45 and I just found out about a 20-year-old 401(k) account with $25,000 in it. Where should I put the money?

Can you imagine forgetting about tens of thousands of dollars of invested funds? While this may seem like something only the super-rich would do, the reality is that working Americans are accidentally abandoning their hard-earned money every day.

That abandoned money exists in part in the form of 31.9 million forgotten 401(k) accounts, which Capitalize (1) reports held a combined $2.1 trillion in assets in 2025.

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You can track down these assets using services like the U.S. Department of Labor’s Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database (2) or by contacting former employers. But say you do track down an abandoned account: What’s the next step?

Let’s imagine, for example, that Juan, 45, worked at a car dealership in his 20s and contributed money to his 401(k). He left the job at 25, completely forgot about it, and recently received a letter from the plan administrator warning that the company will start charging a monthly non-employee maintenance fee (3) if he doesn’t transfer the account.

Now, thanks to appreciation, Juan has $25,000. He has to decide what to do with the money. What are his options?