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401a rollover??
Old 11-25-2006, 05:30 PM   #1
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401a rollover??

I have an account with a previous employer that I would like to rollover, eventually into a Roth IRA. It is a 401(a). The part I'm confused about is that my contributions were after tax; it has employee matched funds; and of course has grown some due to capital gains, etc... Can I roll this? Do I pay taxes on the employer match and the gains if rolled into Roth??

Thanks for help/advice,
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Re: 401a rollover??
Old 11-25-2006, 07:30 PM   #2
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Re: 401a rollover??

If you have a 401k, all of the contributions should be before tax. If you roll it over to a regular IRA, you will have no taxes due. If you roll the IRA to a Roth IRA, you will pay your normal income tax rates. Be sure you are eligable to roll over your IRA before you do because the penalties are very high.
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Re: 401a rollover??
Old 11-25-2006, 09:53 PM   #3
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Re: 401a rollover??

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2B
If you have a 401k, all of the contributions should be before tax.
Depends on the company. FIL had a 401(k) that allowed additional after-tax contributions. But I agree that most 401(k)s are a combination of employee before-tax contributions and the employer match.
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Re: 401a rollover??
Old 11-26-2006, 07:35 AM   #4
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Re: 401a rollover??

Slowtwitcher has a 401(a) rather than a 401(k) so it is common that the employee contributions are after tax. You should be able to get a breakdown from the employer as to the amount in the account attributible to pretax contributions and amount attributible to post tax contributions. You will only have to pay tax on the amount attributible to the pretax portion and the growth.
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Re: 401a rollover??
Old 11-26-2006, 07:58 AM   #5
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Re: 401a rollover??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha
Slowtwitcher has a 401(a) rather than a 401(k) so it is common that the employee contributions are after tax. You should be able to get a breakdown from the employer as to the amount in the account attributible to pretax contributions and amount attributible to post tax contributions. You will only have to pay tax on the amount attributible to the pretax portion and the growth from the pretax contributions.
Does this means that contributions to a 401a plan are after tax?And is this the difference between a 401K and a 401a plans?
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Re: 401a rollover??
Old 11-26-2006, 08:55 AM   #6
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Re: 401a rollover??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Corporateburnout
Does this means that contributions to a 401a plan are after tax?And is this the difference between a 401K and a 401a plans?
no

I have a 401a that is pretax.

I think 401a plans vary in how they are structured, and don't know if they can be after-tax, but most if not all are pre-tax.

the one I have is with a state government and is 'in lieu' of social security i.e. the employee and employer contributions are deposited in it.

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Re: 401a rollover??
Old 11-26-2006, 09:44 AM   #7
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Re: 401a rollover??

Quote:
Originally Posted by bosco
no

I have a 401a that is pretax.

I think 401a plans vary in how they are structured, and don't know if they can be after-tax, but most if not all are pre-tax.

the one I have is with a state government and is 'in lieu' of social security i.e. the employee and employer contributions are deposited in it.

Thanks for the reply. My DD works for a university and I noticed that her contributions are in a 401a plans and her employers match are going into a 401k plans. I'll look into further.

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