Consolidating retirement accounts

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Hi everyone!

I have way too many retirement accounts from having lots of employers. I want to consolidate them. How do I do this? What should I keep in mind?

Sorry for such a basic question :wink:

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I have nooooo idea what I’m talking about, but I was under the impression you would request paperwork/instructions for rollover from the account you want to keep.

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That’s a good start! Thanks :slight_smile:

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You’re welcome! I hope someone else knows more!

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Make sure you don’t just withdraw the money. Generally the company you want to consolidate everything with will help you figure out the taxes and do most of the legwork for you. Vanguard and fidelity both have the reputation of being very helpful with this. This is a situation where it’s worth calling customer service on the phone.

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Ahhh I didn’t even think of taxes. I don’t have a retirement account with Vanguard, but I do with Fidelity, so that is very good to know!

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In that case, link to help:

https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/retirement/consolidate-and-conquer

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Are you willing to share more details on what types of accounts you have? I’m assuming mostly 401ks, but in case anything more Interesting is in the mix, it might be handy to know that.

Seconding the “do not withdraw the money” thing. That will be sooooo bad on your taxes.

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A rollover, done right, is not a taxable event, so that’s what you’re going for. But it is complicated and can’t usually be fixed afterward, so take the time to understand things before you act.

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I had an episode where I did this on air many moons ago but here’s the simple take.

You turn Traditional 401Ks, 403Bs, etc into a “rollover traditional IRA” and then you do the same with roth if you don’t want to pay any taxes or penalties. You can convert, but it’s easier to not do that unless you have a very compelling reason to do so (you have no tax liability this year so a roth conversion would be advantageous for example).

The check or wire transfer must be made out to the place where you’re rolling it over (i.e. Vanguard) and not YOU.

So, you would call and request to set up a rollover account with a new insitution (i.e. a Rollover Traditional IRA at Vanguard) and then initiate a “rollover” into that account from each of the accounts you still have. This could be done on the website, or you may have to call. Usually you have to sign a form and send it in but sometimes you can do so electronically.

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Ah, it’s a lot. My husband and I also have separate accounts. Does that make sense?

Here’s what’s in my name:

Pre-tax

Fidelity
1 Simple IRA
1 403B

Mass Mutual
1 Simple IRA

TIAACREF
2 403B

Bonus … 1 CIGNA HSA

Post tax:
Schwab
1 “Contributory” … w/e that is
1 Roth

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12

Okay so it seems like I can just roll all the simple IRAs into 1 at Fidelity, as well as the 403Bs? And just leave the Schwab account alone? Or can I roll the Contributory into the 403Bs too? And just set up a roth at Fidelity to keep it all in one place?

Actually, one of the 403Bs won’t be able to be rolled over because I am still with that employer lol.

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Ah sweet. I will go find it.

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Literally can’t remember the title sorry I am so helpful.

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I don’t know if your 403b accounts were with State employers, but if they are, check to see if you have any benefits for state taxation if you leave the account where it is. If I rollover my TIAA accounts to Vanguard (or any other provider), then I’d have to pay state income tax when I start to make withdrawals from those accounts. If I leave them with the original provider, they’re state income tax free.

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