Finding "orphaned" 401Ks
April 30, 2018 1:29 PM Subscribe
The financial guy (why am I making this sound like Queer Eye) at my credit union suggested finding my "orphaned" 401Ks to roll over into my IRA.
I have had a number of jobs over the last 15 years, not crazily many but enough that I haven't kept track of everything. Add to this that my financial literacy has tended to come piecemeal--I figured out how buying a house works, e.g., when I bought one. I'm not financially irresponsible (no debt, don't spend what I don't have) but I have been perhaps a bit financially...scattered.
So I don't know what a couple of my older jobs did as far as retirement stuff. Is there a good way to go about finding this out so I can go ahead and roll over what is probably a small but not negligible amount of money to my IRA? Do I need to call, like, the HR department of the very large nonprofit I worked for in 2004 to see if they have stone tablet records of my employ?
I have had a number of jobs over the last 15 years, not crazily many but enough that I haven't kept track of everything. Add to this that my financial literacy has tended to come piecemeal--I figured out how buying a house works, e.g., when I bought one. I'm not financially irresponsible (no debt, don't spend what I don't have) but I have been perhaps a bit financially...scattered.
So I don't know what a couple of my older jobs did as far as retirement stuff. Is there a good way to go about finding this out so I can go ahead and roll over what is probably a small but not negligible amount of money to my IRA? Do I need to call, like, the HR department of the very large nonprofit I worked for in 2004 to see if they have stone tablet records of my employ?
In general, you should still get yearly (or quarterly) statements from the various brokerages that have your 401(k). Once you've got those accounts identified, it's pretty easy (read: lots of paperwork) to get them centralized into a single "rollover IRA" account.
Were all previous employers offering a 401(k) ? Non-profits tend to be 403(b) and/or some kind of SEP/SIMPLE type plan instead of 401(k).
If any place had a pension plan, that might be a reach out to HR to see if you can get a lump-sum rollover to your IRA.
posted by k5.user at 8:06 AM on May 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
Were all previous employers offering a 401(k) ? Non-profits tend to be 403(b) and/or some kind of SEP/SIMPLE type plan instead of 401(k).
If any place had a pension plan, that might be a reach out to HR to see if you can get a lump-sum rollover to your IRA.
posted by k5.user at 8:06 AM on May 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks, the place I worked for 7 years had a pension that I did vest in, but at 7 years I assume that means I'll get $10 a month or something. I should look into whether it's better to roll it over.
posted by Smearcase at 9:05 AM on May 1, 2018
posted by Smearcase at 9:05 AM on May 1, 2018
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posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:37 PM on April 30, 2018 [11 favorites]