I just requested a rollover check from my 401k from 2 employers ago so I can deposit it in a new IRA with Fidelity (I have another one with Vanguard). When it arrives, it will be the largest check I have ever held in my life. Now to figure out whether I can just take it in person to a local Fidelity office to deposit instead of entrusting it to the USPS or some courier company…
If there’s an office nearby the answer ought to be “yes”. I say “ought” only because nobody can know all the possible local variations. But IME the answer should be “yes”.
Upon checking, it looks like it’s even possible to deposit rollover checks via the app? I guess I will give it a try.
No harm in trying but I’d bet there’s a dollar limit. And if that check is the biggest you’ve ever handled, well, it’s probably over that limit.
Newbie here. Retired 13 months ago less one day. Husband retired almost exactly 1 year ago. And 24 hours from now is one year from when we got on a plane to do our Retirement 2024 Big Trip. 4 months around the world. Surprisingly it didn’t break the bank.
We’re big travelers, so it was clear that was what to do. Asked what he wanted to do in retirement, my husband would say “not work.” I took some convincing - knowing that if I retired at 60 and not 65 I’d be missing out on a retiree medical benefit I’d have gotten from my former employer. But it wasn’t all that much in the scheme of things, like $30k in an HRA and a Medicare Advantage premium supplement, and would require me to work another 5 years. Fuck that.
What pushed me to early retirement was the realization that we could live on primarily post-tax savings for 5 years til Medicare eligibility. So our taxable income is low, and we can get Covered California subsidies to make medical coverage cheap. Yay.
The trip was awesome, but about 2 months into the trip, travel at our pace got tiring. It’s a luxury to be time rich, and nice to be able to not have to head home soon. But, we move around a lot when we travel, and hauling ourselves and bags can get old. We did go on some amazing hikes in New Zealand and Australia, and when husband got Covid in Germany I did solo day hikes to kill 9 days! Since last spring we’ve done a few more trips.
But since then… I suppose I need a hobby, but I can goof off on the internet every day and kill time. None if my IRL friends are retired yet. I am reading books! which I never did much before. We’ll be heading off in 2 months on another 6-week trip to Japan and Australia.
I’ll admit I’m more of a hypochondriac than I used to be. I don’t like getting old. But it beats the alternative. Congratulations to all new retirees. Overall it’s great!
I routinely deposit checks into Fidelity via the app. It is quite easy to do.
If memory serves, there is a 500k limit per day.
mmm
Their website says there is no limit for rollover checks. When it arrives, I’ll probably just give them a call to make sure.
Pretty common experience. One of my siblings who is pushing 60 and his wife just spent a month traveling in Spain (with no car) and he said it was maybe a week too long for them. By the end they were eager to return home and stop moving about constantly.
Time rich is awesome, but unfortunately for retirees it tends to come at a point in life when you are not as energy rich as you once were. Sounds like you two are in great shape, but we all start slowing down eventually. Just have to plan around new limits.
Before he got Covid, husband had some mystery virus while we were in Malaysia and then Vietnam. Tested neg for Covid but was hallucinating at some point. He said it was far worse than the later Covid and I was just nervous being in an unfamiliar country. That was just past the 2-month month.
Two years after I retired I volunteered at the Arizona Museum of Natural History. It’s only three hours a week, plus special events, but it gets me out of the house. The museum has 20 staff and 200 volunteers. I tell folks the staff runs the place but the volunteers operate it.
This is on top of the volunteer staff work I do at Burning Man every year. That’s about 9,000 people.
Quoting myself for context …
This morning the last of my 401k money landed at my own brokerage as cash. Overnight 1/8 → 1/9 that’ll be used to buy some ETFs. And that is the end of the saga of my rollover / transfer.
My notes say the process began on 12/03 with me opening temporary IRAs at my 401k custodian. And can be said to have fully ended on 1/09, so 31+6 = 37 days elapsed. There were transfers in kind in limbo for 7 days and another set for 6 days. Yes with weekends and holidays in there too.
So my early optimism about it being quick was misplaced. But it was fairly effortless for me. If I had been willing to just order it and go to sleep for a month while it cooked.
My rollover check finally arrived last night. We got no mail for 2 days, even though it was showing in my Informed Delivery account. I’d had no choice but to do this via paper check and so I was nervous.
And with good cause, as it turned out - I took one last look around 10 pm, and our mail (including the check) was lying on the front stairs! I know it’s been cold here, but COME ON. The front steps are clear and salted. So fully half my retirement funds were just lying on the front stairs - awesome.
Just tried the mobile deposit via Fidelity’s app - fingers crossed! Then I just have to figure out how to invest the funds…
Out of curiosity (and you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to), where did you have your funds invested in the 401k account? If you had it invested in mutual funds, and you’re happy with the performance, chances are good that Fidelity has those same funds available for investment.
Fidelity says on their website:
Over 10,000 funds from Fidelity & other companies
Fidelity’s FundsNetwork allows you to invest in mutual funds from hundreds of fund companies outside of Fidelity, including many available with no transaction fees. Explore your financial options by searching through our world class library of funds.
I had a very limited set of a dozen or so options at the former employer (it’s a business of 50 or so people), so I may as well review my options and start from scratch.
Fidelity will have advisors who will help you for free.
The last time I tried using one of their advisors, I was not impressed. They made a bunch of unwarranted assumptions about me and my goals and situation without even asking. But that was a long time ago and maybe I should try again. I think I have done a decent job on my own all these years but I guess another opinion can’t hurt.
Certainly you shouldn’t follow them blindly. It’s just more information. I did it all myself too.
Always good to double check given your situation in life may be different than it was last time you dealt with investing actively. Sometimes, the Fidelitys of the world have different tools they use that take into account more than just money at Fidelity. I have money all over the place.
About that - it’s amazing how much differently people treat you when you throw six figures at them. Today I got a completely unsolicited call from someone at the local Fidelity office, offering free financial planning assistance.
With Elon Musk and his script kiddies running amok in government systems, I decided it was time to move my 401(k) money from the Thrift Savings Plan to an IRA at Schwab. A couple days after I created the account, I got a call from someone at Schwab offering their investment assistance, even though they had no idea how much money was coming yet. I’ve had an account with them for awhile - I’ve never had anyone call me.
In other news, why is it that only a paper check can be used to transfer from one account to another? Besides the nervous-making factor for those of us waiting for our money to show up in the new account, it’s possible for me to do just about everything else electronically, including executing trades when the cash gets deposited in the new account. Why not this too?