Pick The Financial Services Company You Will Work With
You will want to pick one firm that will serve as the custodian for your retirement account. If you manage your own investments, you might pick Vanguard, Fidelity, or Charles Schwab. If you work with a financial advisor, they will have a brokerage firm or custodian that they use and will open the account you need there.
Some people mistakenly think they need to spread their money across multiple companies to be diversified. That is not true. You can open an account at one company, and inside that account spread your money across multiple types of investments.
Using a well-established custodian helps you protect your accounts from numerous types of fraud, and having your money with one firm makes managing your retirement money and retirement distributions much easier.
Option : Roll Over Your Old 401 Into An Individual Retirement Account
Still another option is to roll over your old 401 into an IRA. The primary benefit of an IRA rollover is having access to a wider range of investment options, since youll be in control of your retirement savings rather than a participant in an employers plan. Depending on what you invest in, a rollover can also save you money from management and administrative fees, costs that can eat into investment returns over time. If you decide to rollover an old 401 into an IRA, you will have several options, each of which has different tax implications.
Decide What Kind Of Account You Want
Your first decision is what kind of account youre rolling over your money to, and that decision depends a lot on the options available to you and whether you want to invest yourself.
When youre thinking about a rollover, you have two big options: move it to your current 401 or move it into an IRA. As youre trying to decide, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you want to invest the money yourself or would you rather have someone do it for you? If you want to do it yourself, an IRA may be a good option. But even if you want someone to do it for you, you may want to check out an IRA at a robo-advisor, which can design a portfolio for your needs. But do-it-for-me investors may also prefer to make a rollover into your current employers 401 plan.
- Does your old 401 have low-cost investment options with potentially attractive returns, and does your current 401 offer similar or better options? If youre thinking about a rollover to your current 401 plan, youll want to ensure its a better fit than your old plan. If its not, then a rollover into an IRA could make a lot of sense, since youll be able to invest in anything that trades in the market. Otherwise, maybe it makes sense to keep your old 401.
- Does your current 401 plan offer access to financial planners to help you invest? If so, it could make sense to roll your old 401 into your new 401. If you move money to an IRA, youll have to manage it completely and pick investments or hire someone to do so.
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What Is A 401 Rollover
A 401 rollover is when you transfer the account balance in your old 401 to a new or existing 401 or Individual Retirement Account .
You’ll usually face the decision of what to do with your 401 when you leave a job, but you might even have an old 401 that you’ve forgotten about hanging around from a previous employer. It’s never too late to examine your holdings and decide whether to roll your assets into your current employer’s 401 or an IRA, or choose another option instead.
There are four main possibilities when considering a potential 401 rollover:
- Leave your old 401 account as is.
- Roll over the account into an IRA.
- Roll over the account into your new employer’s 401.
- Cash out the account .
Keep Your 401 With Your Previous Employer
In this instance, you wont change a thing. Just make sure that you actively monitor your investments in the plan for performance and remain aware of any significant changes that occur.
If you really like your current investment options and are paying low fees on the investments, this might be the right choice for you.
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Access More Investment Choices
In a 401 plan, youre limited to the investment choices picked by your employer, usually a selection of mutual funds. If you roll over your 401 to an IRA, you may be able to expand your investment choices to include a broader range of funds, exchange traded funds or even individual stocks and bonds. Youll get more control over your portfolio, especially if you use a self-directed IRA, which allows you to invest money into more unorthodox assets like real estate.
Why Transfer Your 401 To An Ira
Why would you move savings from an old 401 plan to an IRA? The main reason is to keep control of your money. In an IRA, you get to decide what happens with the funds: You choose where to invest and how much you pay in fees, and you dont need anybodys permission to take money out of the account.
More Control
Cost and providers: In your 401, your employer controls almost everything. Employers choose vendors for the plan, which determines the investment lineup available. Those might not be investments you like, and they might be more expensive than you want. If you want to practice socially-responsible investing, the 401 may lack options for that.
Timing: 401 plans also require extra steps when you want to withdraw funds: An administrator needs to verify that you are eligible to access your money before youre allowed to take a distribution. Plus, some 401 plans dont allow partial withdrawalsyou might need to take your full balance.
Easy Withdrawals
If you need access to your 401 savings for any reason, its easier when the money is in an IRA. In most cases, you call your IRA provider or request a withdrawal online. Depending on what you own in your account, the funds might go out as soon as the next business day. But 401 plans might need a few extra days for everybody to sign off on the distribution.
Complicated Situations
Control Tax Withholding
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*Consider all available options, which include remaining with your current retirement plan, rolling over into a new employer’s plan or IRA, or cashing out the account value. When deciding between an employer-sponsored plan and IRA, there may be important differences to consider – such as range of investment options, fees and expenses, availability of services, and distribution rules . Depending on your plan’s investment options, in some cases, the investment management fees associated with your plan’s investment options may be lower than similar investment options offered outside the plan.
1Morningstar gives its best ratings of 5 or 4 stars to the top 32.5% of all funds based on their risk-adjusted returns. The Overall Morningstar Rating is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with a funds 3-, 5-, and 10-year Morningstar Rating metrics. As of 7/31/21, 69 of 154 of our Investor Class funds received an overall rating of 5 or 4 stars.
3Generally, as long as you’ve held the account at least 5 years and you’re age 59½ or older.
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Begin The Rollover Process
Youll have to fill out paperwork to conduct your rollover and it may require some back-and-forth conversations with your providers. You have several options to actually move the money from the old provider to the new one, but your best option is a direct rollover.
In a direct rollover, the funds are sent straight from your 401 into your new account without you touching the funds. Its important that you specify a direct rollover so that you dont have the check made payable to you. You could trigger a mandatory 20 percent withholding for taxes, and the IRS charges a 10 percent bonus penalty on withdrawals made before age 59 1/2.
What To Do With An Old 401 Account
When you leave a job, you often face a decision about what to do with your 401 or other workplace-based retirement accounts. You could leave it in place or cash it out. But unless you’re retiring or you need the funds immediately, the smartest course is usually to roll over the account.
A rollover is when you withdraw cash or other assets from one eligible retirement plan and contribute all or part of them, within 60 days, to another eligible retirement plangenerally, a rollover IRA that you set up. That way, you maintain the tax-deferred status of your retirement account, consolidate all retirement accounts for easier management, andbecause it’s your own accountbenefit from increased investment flexibility.
Under this option, you would ask your plan administrator to make a direct and tax-free transfer of funds from your former employers plan to an IRA at a financial institution of your choice.
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Common Us Retirement Accounts At A Glance
For all three plans, withdrawals before age 59½ are usually subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty.
401: An employer-sponsored defined contribution pension account. Similar to an RRSP, contributions are from pre-tax income and funds do not get taxed until theyre withdrawn.
Individual Retirement Account : A self-directed defined contribution pension account. Similar to an RRSP, contributions are from pre-tax income and funds do not get taxed until theyre withdrawn. An IRA can be converted to a Roth IRA. Usually, IRAs are not employer-sponsored.
Roth IRA: A self-directed defined contribution pension account. Similar to a TFSA, contributions are from after-tax income, but funds do not get taxed when theyre withdrawn. Earnings must be held for at least five years prior to withdrawal.
Editors note:The author is a journalist and cannot provide advice.
*A previous version of this story stated that lump sum withdrawals qualify for 15% withholding due to the U.S.-Canada Treaty, as long as the client files Form W8-BEN with the administrator. While some practitioners hold that view, others are more cautious and prefer to assume a 30% withholding. Read more about that here.Return to the corrected sentence.
Example : Clerical Errors
Jane deals with two financial institutions. At the first institution, she has a traditional IRA while, at the second, she has both a traditional IRA and a regular savings account. Jane instructs the second financial institution to transfer assets from her IRA to her IRA at the first financial institution.
A year later, Jane realizes the delivering account number she provided was that of her savings account. She immediately put the money into her IRA at the first financial institution. However, this made the transaction a regular contribution to the IRA, not a plan-to-plan transfer. Unfortunately, neither financial institution detected the discrepancy and prevented the erroneous transaction.
If Jane has already contributed the maximum amount to her IRA, she will have to calculate and fix the excess IRA contribution. If she does not correct the error by the applicable deadline, she will owe the IRS a 6% penalty on the amount for each year it remains in her IRA. However, if she has not yet contributed to her IRA for the year, and the amount is not more than the IRA contribution limit and includes only cash, Jane may leave the amount in the IRA and treat it as her regular IRA contribution.
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How Much Does It Cost To Roll Over A 401 To An Ira
If you do the process correctly, there should be few or no costs associated with rolling over a 401 to an IRA. Some 401 administrators may charge a transfer fee or an account closure fee, which is usually under $100.
Because moving your money from a 401 to an IRA allows you to avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty that results if you withdraw money from a 401 before 59 1/2, it’s a far better option if you can’t keep your money invested in an old employer’s plan or move it to a 401 at your new company.
You should consider whether rolling over a 401 to an IRA is a better option than either leaving it invested when you leave your job or moving the money to your new employer’s retirement plan. If you can avoid 401 management fees and gain access to investments with lower expense ratios, an IRA may be a cheaper account option.
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Are You A Us Citizen Or A Us Person For Tax Purposes
If yes, your client will likely have a bigger tax bill from collapsing a retirement plan than someone whos not. But it depends.
While Canadian residents are only taxed 15% on 401 and IRA withdrawals, withdrawals for U.S. persons are taxed as ordinary income at their marginal rate, which is usually higher than 15%. So, a 60-year-old U.S. person in the 33% bracket would only net $67,000 when collapsing a $100,000 IRA. If he transferred his IRA to an RRSP, his FTC would be $33,000 and he would need to owe $33,000 in Canadian tax to be in a tax-neutral position. The larger the FTC, the more unlikely it is that the person has enough Canadian tax owing to offset the entire FTC.
In the Go Public case mentioned earlier, the couples bank overlooked the fact that the husband was a U.S. citizen. Which brings us to
How Old Are You
If your client is 59½ or younger, theres typically a 10% early withdrawal penalty for both IRAs and 401s . Fortunately, CRA allows the 10% penalty to be claimed as a FTC on the Canadian return in addition to the 15% withholding. On a $100,000 plan, thats $75,000 net the client would also need to owe at least $25,000 in Canadian tax for the transfer to be tax-neutral.
If your client is 70½ or older, she must start withdrawing from the U.S. plan by April 1 of the year following the year the client reached that age. If youre comfortable with where the money is and how its being invested, its probably better to leave it tax-deferred as long as you can, says Altro. You can even withdraw the IRA at a slower pace than a RRIF the minimums are lower than they are in Canada.
If your client is 71 or older, she must convert her RRSP to a RRIF, and its no longer possible to contribute to the RRIF.
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