Your “Missing Statements” Excuse Is Costing Clients Real Money

I’ll be blunt: “We’re missing a few years, so let’s just 50/50 the 401(k)” is how clients lose real money.

There are two changes you need to factor in right now:

Age 60–63 super catchups (2025): many plans allow up to $11,250 extra per year. If those deposits hit after your cutoff, they inflatethe pot unless you back them out before calculating marital growth.
Roth-only catch-ups for high earners (2026): if prior-year wages hit $145k+, catch-ups must be Roth (after-tax). That creates mixed money types.And unless division and rollovers follow the plan’s source rules, your result won’t match what the administrator can actually implement.

For defined contribution plans, don’t paper over gaps with a coverture shortcut – that’s a pension tool.

You need tracing to:

Separate pre-marital funds, contributions, and actual investment growth from a cutoff date forward.
Then match that math to the plan’s rules so it can actuallybe carried out.

“We can’t trace” is a myth.

We fill statement gaps using:

…then apply the plan’s performance method to update the award through the transfer date.

That’s standard, not exotic.

So why not just use a generalist, like accounting firms that do all accounts tracing?

Most folks can rebuild a ledger.

Where cases fall apart is implementation:

We live in that world, retirement plans, all day and don’t dabble in anything else.

So you get:

Traced marital value
Update (especially critical if you are equalizing or transferring out of an IRA account!)
Plan compliant settlement language
Implementation (QDRO etc.)

All under one roof.

If you want to pressure-test an active case, comment or message me “Trace check.”

We will assess whether tracing makes sense and show you exactly where the gaps are.

Because “good enough” math is what costs your clients the most.