TERMINATED employee recieved letter from SoCIAL Security re his 401k asset value

Hi,

A participant in  a 401k Plan terminated years ago. He received currently a letter from the Social Security administration that informs

him that he was a participant in the plan and that if he was never paid out, he is then entitled to his account value. The letter towards the bottom shows

a grid that shows that the last reported year was 2007 and his account value was $49,251. Question: How would they know his account value? Usually the W2 shows only the

deferral made for the year. Thank you!

Form 8955-SSA.

It was called something else once upon a time but that's the current form to report terminated employees with deferred vested benefits. When participant applies for Social Security they get that notice if they were reported to SSA unless they were later removed. But in my experience it's been hit or miss that they actually get removed when you report code D. maybe it's got better in recent years but the old days it seemed like over half the folks who were "removed" still got the letter.

Somewhere along the line, somebody added him to the SSA (now Form 8955-SSA) and didn't remove him when the account was paid out.  The $49k was the value of his account when the sponsor (or, really the TPA or R/K) added him tot he SSA way back when...

Thank you very much Lou S. and BG5150.