Arnie
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2010
- Messages
- 230
Following is from http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/one-way-bungi-jumping-55373.html - I did not want to hijack that "Hi, I am" thread.
Ed, can you point me to any discussion of this besides calling Vanguard? I knew I could access my 401k starting in the year I turned 55 if my employment was severed. However, I figured I would have to keep it with my employer at least until I was 59 1/2 as opposed to moving to an IRA with Vanguard if I wanted to avoid the 10% penalty. I'd like to learn more about this.
Also, I know you said "IIRC", but is the RMD due at 72 as opposed 70.5?
Actually, you can. If you separate from your employer (for any reason), you can 'roll-over' your 401k into a self-directed IRA (see Vanguard for details--they do answer the phone), and after the age of 55, you can access your money without penalty (still gotta pay taxes, but no extra 10% hit). You can take out as much or as little as you want until you turn 72 (IIRC), at which point you must take out the Minimum Required Distribution as determined by the IRS in a table somewhere. The MRD by the table is 1/your expected lifespan, recalculated each year.
Ed, can you point me to any discussion of this besides calling Vanguard? I knew I could access my 401k starting in the year I turned 55 if my employment was severed. However, I figured I would have to keep it with my employer at least until I was 59 1/2 as opposed to moving to an IRA with Vanguard if I wanted to avoid the 10% penalty. I'd like to learn more about this.
Also, I know you said "IIRC", but is the RMD due at 72 as opposed 70.5?