What Can a Roth IRA Be Rolled Over Into?
An Individual Retirement Account, or IRA, offers you the power to expand your investment dollars through compound interest. As financial markets rebound and your account balance increases, this could transform it into something significant.
But moving after-tax money held in an employer plan such as a 401(k) into an IRA may incur a tax bill of significant proportions — but there’s a way around this problem!
Direct rollovers
Direct rollover is an ideal method of moving funds between retirement accounts. It differs from indirect rolling over, which involves receiving money from your former employer with instructions to deposit it within 60 days or risk incurring an early withdrawal penalty. A direct rollover allows money never to pass through your hands so that there will be no temptation for use during that limited time frame, and won’t require having 20% withheld for taxes either, which complicates matters when rolling funds over.
There are various retirement accounts you can hold, each offering different tax treatments. It is essential that you understand these rules so you can make wise choices regarding how best to fund your retirement.
Direct rollovers offer an ideal method for moving funds from one retirement account to the next. The process requires filling out paperwork with the receiving IRA custodian and asking them to directly transfer your current retirement fund directly into the new one. A direct transfer prevents using or losing track of it during its short 60-day window. A direct rollover may also be advantageous in cases when your original account doesn’t automatically withhold 20% tax in its distributions, such as employer plans or SIMPLE or SEP IRAs that don’t automatically withhold 20% tax when distributions come through or don’t automatically withhold 20% automatically for taxes like most employer plans or individual retirement arrangements such as SIMPLE or SEP IRAs do.
Indirect Rollovers
An indirect rollover is an ideal option if you need to consolidate funds from multiple retirement accounts into one at Guideline, or have worked multiple jobs across your career and have money dispersed across 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b). Once distributed, 60 days must pass before it must be moved into an IRA account to avoid incurring an early withdrawal penalty of 10%.
Indirect rollovers are another effective option if you want to convert funds from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA, however they’re limited in that you can only do it once every 12 months and must pay income tax on any conversion amounts in that year. Before making your decision it would be prudent to consult with a tax adviser in order to avoid any unexpected surprises when filing taxes later on.
Inherited IRAs
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