For Roth Rollovers...How long does it take

[Jenna]

I recently submitted paperwork to roll a 401k to my Roth from my old employer. There is a link that says track my rollover. How long does this take? It's been 4 days-seems like there is some lag time there...

Also for those of you who have rolled personal RA's at Vangard to Roths at Vanguard, how long does that take. I want to try and my rollovers when the market is down to pay less taxes.

 

[Dash man]

If you’re talking Roth conversions, if they’re at the same custodian, it should be the next day from a 401k to a Roth. To a different custodian, I think mine took 3-4 business days.

 

[lesjrp]

You may need to clarify whether you’re rolling over to an Standard Ira or a Roth Ira. If it’s a Roth Ira then you will be doing a Roth conversion, and You will have to pay tax on it like it’s income. There’s a big difference.

 

[MRG]

When you said "paperwork" did you mean real paper?

 

[Whisper66]

My 401k rollover from my previous employer to my Vanguard rollover IRA account took 8 weeks due to repeated errors on my employers end. Fortunate to have gotten a Vanguard specialist assigned from the start to help me through the process. They helped catch the errors and knew better than I did about how to talk to the idiots making the mistakes. Much calmer and constructive than I was also. I’ve since made several other account transfers from one financial institution to another and they tend to take 1-2 weeks usually.

 

[SecondCor521]

For the 401k rollover, it can take a couple of weeks. The most common thing is for them to mail you a physical check payable to "Vanguard FBO <your name>", which you then mail to Vanguard with the appropriate form (probably paper). I don't know why it is that way, but it is.

For rollovers from traditional to Roth at Vanguard, I can initiate those any time before market close (4pm Eastern usually), the transaction takes place that evening after market close, and I get the notice and can see the transaction in my account the next day.

 

[Jenna]

When you said "paperwork" did you mean real paper?

I did submit real paper for the prior employer to process

My 401k rollover from my previous employer to my Vanguard rollover IRA account took 8 weeks due to repeated errors on my employers end. Fortunate to have gotten a Vanguard specialist assigned from the start to help me through the process. They helped catch the errors and knew better than I did about how to talk to the idiots making the mistakes. Much calmer and constructive than I was also. I’ve since made several other account transfers from one financial institution to another and they tend to take 1-2 weeks usually.

I recently submitted paperwork to roll a 401k to my Roth from my old employer. There is a link that says track my rollover. How long does this take? It's been 4 days-seems like there is some lag time there...

Also for those of you who have rolled personal RA's at Vangard to Roths at Vanguard, how long does that take. I want to try and my rollovers when the market is down to pay less taxes.

Clarification---
Roth Conversions-(yes I know they will be taxable.)
1. Prior Employer -401k to Roth
2. Personal IRA held at Vanguard converted to a Roth
So I was asking about 2 different situations. Thanks to all that answered!

 

[MRG]

For the 401k rollover, it can take a couple of weeks. The most common thing is for them to mail you a physical check payable to "Vanguard FBO <your name>", which you then mail to Vanguard with the appropriate form (probably paper). I don't know why it is that way, but it is.

For rollovers from traditional to Roth at Vanguard, I can initiate those any time before market close (4pm Eastern usually), the transaction takes place that evening after market close, and I get the notice and can see the transaction in my account the next day.

Yeah, you get a snail mail paper check from the retirement system you send back to the retail system*. It's done like that because the controls exist to ensure the money is deposited or cashed elsewhere. When you send it in it's into their secure lockbox area. Seemed like I sent it to Devon Park?

I'm not sure what's different for a Roth. Seems like that's an account attribute, maybe it causes other checks/messages during account setup?

*IIRC every provider does a similar process. Those systems don't talk.

 

[Koolau]

If you're hoping to sell high and buy low or even sell at one price and lock in about the same price, you probably will be disappointed - especially if you are changing companies. You may find this odd, but most fund companies will look for an a excuse to keep your money as long as possible. Yeah, I was surprised too.

But, within one company, it might be one day - but I'd allow at least 2 and not be overly surprised if it ended up being 3. So any kind of "plan" you have may be thwarted but YMMV.

 

[H2ODude]

Last time I did anything like this was ten years ago. IIRC I told Fidelity to go get my money from the last company 401k plan I worked for. They did it all without much input or any paperwork from me as I recall, it was 401k to traditional IRA.