# Countdown to retirement **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 25, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653 "2023-03-25T17:37:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/301 "2023-06-08T12:16:50Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Hmm. Carrying the damn check is starting to look like the less scary option. I just got off a chat with a live representative from Schwab. They didn’t clarify matters much, and I’m to call Schwab a little later this morning and speak to a rollover specialist. I already did that once and got little useful information from them. If my phone conversation with my 401(k) company today is another clusterfuck, I may go the check route. But I’m terrified that they would screw that up, too, and issue it directly to me and trigger a huge tax debt. Why does this have to be so hard? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/302 "2023-06-08T12:57:04Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I won’t breathe easy until Thursday at the earliest. It is Thursday. All is good. @teelabrown - You may want to consider switching to Fidelity. Their website is a model of design and usability, and the many interactions I have had with their support via phone have been, without exception, outstanding. mmm ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/303 "2023-06-08T13:03:16Z")
I’ve called Schwab and spoken with a rollover specialist. Part of the confusion may be that I had been defaulting to the assumption that rollovers are always done electronically. It looks like paper snail mail checks are the default and electronic deposits are rare, at least according to the Schwab rollover specialist. And the 401(k) company looks like it’s a bargain basement dinosaur, so snail mail is probably what they do best. So when I speak to my 401(k) company today, I’m going to say to just issue some paper checks and overnight them to Schwab, making sure they’re FBO me, etc., and providing the account numbers for each IRA. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/304 "2023-06-08T13:42:28Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > You may want to consider switching to Fidelity. Seconded. On advice from my wealthy BIL, I switched most of my funds, both retirement and non-retirement, to Fidelity. I’ve had no issues with the website. And I actually use Facebook chat for my support questions, which are always answered within the hour. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/305 "2023-06-08T16:10:52Z")
I’ve used both Schwab and Fidelity. I’ll add my endorsement for Fidelity over Schwab hands down. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/306 "2023-06-08T16:45:27Z")
I used Fidelity for decades and they were great. The only reason I switched to Ameritrade is that that’s what my CFP likes so he switched it when he took over. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/307 "2023-06-08T17:36:29Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > But I’m terrified that they would screw that up, too, and issue it directly to me and trigger a huge tax debt. Why does this have to be so hard? I think mine was issued to me, but if it gets rolled over in the allotted time, no problem. I don’t remember if I did anything special on my taxes or not - I don’t think so. Interesting that checks are the default. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/308 "2023-06-08T21:58:38Z")
Spoke to the crappy 401(k) people. Now they’re going to issue paper checks to Schwab, FBO me, and mail them to me. They won’t mail them to Schwab, and they won’t overnight them. So it’s snail mail to me, which will take another 13 business days or so. Then I’ll physically drive them to a Schwab branch and deposit them. I calculated the amount of interest that chunk of money would earn at 4.9% for the month it will have been suspended in limbo, and it’s not a small amount. I need another antacid. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/309 "2023-06-08T23:08:06Z")
This is precisely (well…) what alcohol was invented for. I’m thankful my Mom and I invested with the same firm, so when her will was final it was no drama! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/310 "2023-06-08T23:36:36Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > I calculated the amount of interest that chunk of money would earn at 4.9% for the month it will have been suspended in limbo, and it’s not a small amount. And that is exactly why they do it at a snail’s pace. It gives them more time to play with your money. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/311 "2023-06-09T00:36:20Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > And I actually use Facebook chat for my support questions, which are always answered within the hour. Wait, you can message an actual Fidelity rep via Facebook? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/312 "2023-06-09T01:02:29Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Wait, you can message an actual Fidelity rep via Facebook? Well, not a named rep per se, but I went to the ‘Fidelity Investments’ FB page and clicked the ‘Message’ button there. Interestingly, my first question had to do with availability of the funds I had just transferred from my bank. The response told me exactly where to look to find that information. My second question concerned something I needed to find on the site, and again the response told me precisely where to go. Their ‘Contact Us’ page lists a multitude of options for contacting them, including phone, live chat, virtual assistant, and six different social media channels: Reddit, Instagram, Twitter, FB, TikTok, and YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/313 "2023-06-09T07:32:39Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > Mr. brown and I are currently bickering over two strategies: buying the new place on contingency and then proceeding to sell our current home, or sell our current home first and then shop for the new place. Depends on whether you can afford to carry 2 places for a bit, and the state of the market where you’re selling or buying. A friend just went through something similar. Her condo here turned out to sell faster than she’d expected - like, within a week - and she had to start shopping in her destination city. She intentionally planned this for while she was still employed, thinking it would make getting a mortgage on the new place easier if she had a job. > [@teelabrown](#): > > Spoke to the crappy 401(k) people. Now they’re going to issue paper checks to Schwab, FBO me, and mail them to me. They won’t mail them to Schwab, and they won’t overnight them. So it’s snail mail to me, which will take another 13 business days or so. Then I’ll physically drive them to a Schwab branch and deposit them. When I rolled over my 401(k) from my “previous” job (new company actually bought the old, but the plans are separate), much the same thing happened to me. I drove the check over to the nearest Fidelity office. Make sure they don’t do anything like withholding taxes on the “distribution”! Otherwise you have to make up the difference, or it becomes taxable income. Ouch! A friend had that happen (same friend as above, actually); she was able to make up the difference, so the new plan got the full amount she’d withdrawn from the old one. Then she got a nice tax refund at the end of the year because of all the taxes “she” had paid. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/314 "2023-06-09T11:32:58Z")
When my brother was distributing money from my mother’s estate, a chunk of money in a trust at Schwab was supposed to find its way to my Fidelity account. It didn’t. He called Schwab, and they said to talk to Fidelity.I had a long, frustrating call with Fidelity. My brother went back to Schwab. Schwab uses the same form for depositing money into a charitable trust as for transferring money to another brokerage. Eventually, they determined that someone at Schwab, who knew that charitable trusts at fidelity have account numbers that start with an “A” had helpful added an “A” to the start of my account number. Fidelity got this money from Schwab that was earmarked for a nonexistent account, and didn’t know what to do with it. They gave it back to Schwab. Eventually, Schwab tried again and got the right account number. My money (which was enough to make me anxious) was in limbo for weeks. Not a fun time. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/315 "2023-06-09T11:41:53Z")
Man, these stories. By the time I retired three years ago, I had accounts at both Fidelity and Vanguard due to various 401(k)s. I had thought about combining them at Fidelity, along with my other accounts, but at this point I’m just leaving it all alone. That was probably going to happen anyway due to inertia, but now my inertia feels a little better. 😬 ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/316 "2023-06-09T12:43:23Z")
I was hoping that the electronic rollover would be done by today, and I could stop biting my nails. But since that backfired, now I have another two weeks of nail-biting while waiting for paper checks. And an additional stressor is worrying about them being lost or stolen. Well, Mr. brown is going to have to go through the same thing at the end of June, when his 401(k) will become available for rollover. Hopefully we’ll learn from my pitfalls when it comes to dealing with his. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/317 "2023-06-09T20:53:32Z")
FWIW, when I rolled my Vanguard 401k into my Schwab, I had to do exactly the paper check route. They did send it directly to Schwab, but I bit my nails for more than a week visualizing a $680k check in transit. All was well a few days later. I actually was following the advice of my Schwab person - they said to just do it by check, electronic transfer would probably work but it’s a crap shoot how weird it would get on the originating end and paper was just simplest. Surprised me too! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/318 "2023-06-11T21:29:48Z")
A couple days ago was my 34th and final anniversary in this job. 13 weeks and change … Drip Drip Drip. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/319 "2023-06-11T21:32:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A couple days ago was my 34th and final anniversary in this job. 13 weeks and change … Drip Drip Drip Congrats in advance!!! ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/320 "2023-06-11T21:39:46Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > You may want to consider switching to Fidelity. Their website is a model of design and usability, and the many interactions I have had with their support via phone have been, without exception, outstanding. My sister has an account with Fidelity and has found them to be helpful and pleasant. I went in person with her shortly before or after she retired, and I found them very easy to deal with, as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653.md?page=17)