Help NYSTRS Find Owners of Unclaimed Funds

5/26/2026

Issue No. 2026-5

To: Chief School Administrators 
College and University Presidents 
District Contacts 
Employer Secure Area Contacts

Former members who left service reportable to NYSTRS are eligible for a refund of member contributions they made to the System. NYSTRS currently has a list of more than 16,000 accounts belonging to former members who have not withdrawn their contributions. 

We want to get these funds into the right hands – and we need your help. NYSTRS is asking for your help locating the owners of these unclaimed and abandoned funds.

Please direct current and former employees to the Unclaimed Funds page of our website. From there, they can search two lists: Unclaimed Funds and Abandoned Accounts. Both lists are searchable by name and last known teaching location. 

Funds typically become unclaimed or abandoned when memberships cease due to insufficient service. Members must have a minimum of five years of service to vest with NYSTRS. To keep a membership active, a member with fewer than five years of service must work the equivalent of at least 20 full-time days in a school year in a NYSTRS-reportable position once every seven years.

After memberships cease, NYSTRS uses every known avenue to locate these former members, their beneficiaries or estates. When efforts to reach them fail, their names are added to the Unclaimed Funds list. If the contributions remain unclaimed for 18 months, they are considered abandoned and added to the Abandoned Accounts list. These funds do not earn interest. Funds may be claimed at any time by the former member, their beneficiary or their estate.  

Visit the Unclaimed Funds page of our website to search the lists and read instructions on how to claim the funds. The unclaimed funds list posted on the NYSTRS website is publicly available information and NYSTRS never charges a fee to locate or distribute these funds.