401(k) rollover stuck in limbo?

November 30, 2023 10:28 AM

My 401(k) is somehow being held back from a rollover by my former employer. How do I release it?

I had a 401(k) still with a former employer for a number of years. That former employer was recently acquired, and when it was, the 401(k) administrator was changed to a new one, Guideline. Once I got access to that new 401(k), and only after a fair amount of back and forth with my old CEO (bless her heart), I tried to roll it over to my current employer's 401(k).

That was about two months ago. I've been in weekly contact with Guideline since then, and they keep telling me there's nothing they can do to release my 401(k). They claim that the company who bought my old employer is holding it up. Since I've never worked for that company, I have nobody to reach out to there.

What, if anything, should I do? Do I need legal representation?

posted by Vhanudux to Work & Money (6 answers total)

Can you try contacting HR at the new company? Even though you're no longer an employee, they might know what's going on and how to get things unstuck.
posted by kristi at 10:30 AM on November 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

Your new 401(k) administrator may have some ideas.
posted by soelo at 10:50 AM on November 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yeah have you been pursuing this with the 401(k) adminstrator and/or HR at your new company? When I have rolled over a 401(k) it was completely taken care of by the company I was trying to roll it over *to*.

Otherwise I'd start calling up the benefits administrator at the company that bought your company. You haven't worked for them, but they have a responsibility to you.
posted by mskyle at 11:22 AM on November 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

I vote for contacting HR at the new company -- they're (presumably) the ones holding up the money. Do you know someone who still works there who can give you an HR name and phone number? Can you find someone likely on LinkedIn and reverse engineer their email address?

I had similar situations when leaving my last two jobs -- one had taken paycheck deductions for an FSA but never opened that FSA for me; the other held up my 401(k) rollover. Once I got through to someone who 1) understood the issue and 2) was at all versed in HR/U.S. labor law (which took a couple tries in both cases), the problem was taken Extremely Seriously and Resolved Immediately.
posted by teditrix at 1:16 PM on November 30, 2023

If none of those options work, try Capitalize. I used them for some complicated rollovers and they did indeed make them much easier for me. I heard about them from a financial podcast I listen to, tried them out, and was actually really impressed with their ability to make things happen and move my accounts without me having to send in snail mail notarized forms in triplicate. The staff were also very friendly and helpful.
posted by gingerbeer at 2:39 PM on November 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

I had a similar situation, though not with 401K. My payout was delayed because of a hangup in an audit. So, there could be a admin issue affecting the whole plan, not just you.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:29 AM on December 1, 2023