How to get the records that show where your retirement money went
IRS Wage and Income transcripts, the Social Security earnings statement (SSA-7050) and pension notice (SSA-L99): what each shows, what it costs, how long it takes, and how to cover numbers before you share a copy.
Three free or low-cost records answer most questions about old retirement money: where you worked, whether money was paid out or moved to an IRA, and which plans owe you a benefit. You request them yourself; nobody else needs your Social Security number to get them.
1. IRS Wage and Income transcript (free)
Shows the forms the IRS received in your name: W-2s (where you worked and what you deferred), 1099-Rs (payouts and rollovers out of a plan) and 5498s (money going into an IRA, including automatic rollovers). It covers the current tax year and the nine before it.
- Online, fastest: sign in to your IRS Individual Online Account and download the Wage and Income transcript, one PDF per year. Names and numbers are partly hidden on these copies. Attovar can read them in your browser without uploading them.
- By mail: file IRS Form 4506-T (free) and tick the box for Form W-2 and 1099 information. The IRS's phone line and "Get Transcript by Mail" don't offer this transcript; Form 4506-T does.
- Limits: one transcript holds about 85 forms; more than that needs Form 4506-T. A form filed under a wrong Social Security number won't appear.
2. Social Security itemized earnings statement (Form SSA-7050-F4)
Lists every employer that reported your pay, year by year, with the employer's name and address. It reaches back before the IRS's 10-year window, which makes it the best way to rebuild an old job history.
- Cost: $61 for the itemized statement you need here (non-certified). A certified one is $96. Yearly totals without employer names are free in my Social Security.
- How: fill in Form SSA-7050-F4, sign it, and mail it to the address printed on the form. Pay by card, check or money order; no cash.
- Time: Social Security asks you to allow up to 120 days. Call 1-800-772-1213 with questions.
3. Social Security notice of potential private pension benefits (Form SSA-L99)
When you leave a job with a vested benefit, many plans report it to Social Security. On written request, Social Security sends one notice per plan with the plan's name, employer ID and plan number, and sometimes an estimated amount. It shows what a plan reported when you left, not whether anything is still there today.
- How: use the PBGC's fillable request letter and mail it to OCO Office of Earnings Operations, Attention: ERISA Correspondence Group, P.O. Box 33007, Baltimore, MD 21290-3307.
- Cost: Social Security lists no fee for it.
4. Other places the dates live
- Old W-2s, pay stubs, offer letters and emails.
- The former employer's HR or payroll office.
- The Work Number's free employment data report, for employers that use it.
Before you share a copy: cover the numbers
Plans and Attovar never need your full Social Security number, date of birth or account numbers in a copy you send for review. Cover them first.
- On paper: lay a strip of paper or tape over each number, then copy or photograph the page. A marker alone can show through, so check the copy.
- Phone photo: cover the numbers with paper before you take the picture. Drawing over a photo in an editing app can sometimes be undone in the file you send; a fresh photo of the covered page cannot.
- PDF: a black box drawn on top is not enough: the text often stays underneath. Use a PDF editor's Redact tool that removes the text, or print, cover and scan. Then try to select the text under the box; if you can, it isn't covered.
- Never send us a copy of your ID. Send ID only to the plan or recordkeeper that asks for it.
Sign Social Security and IRS forms only for yourself, or for someone you are legally authorized to act for. The pension-notice request letter itself states that getting records under false pretenses is a crime.
Sources
- IRS: Transcript types and ways to order them
- IRS: Get your tax records and transcripts
- Social Security: Form SSA-7050 and fees
- Social Security: Form SSA-7050-F4 (PDF)
- PBGC: Important documents (SSA notice request address)
- PBGC: About the SSA notice (Form L99)
Reviewed October 2026. Information only, not legal or tax advice.