How long does a rollover IRA take to process?

[Flyfish1]

I initiated a rollover IRA request from Nationwide to Schwab back in mid Sept.
After repeated numerous calls and emails to Nationwide and parties involved at my old company the paperwork moved to Schwab on 10/5/23. There was one Holiday involved but we are now talking about 2 weeks and nothing has happened. This is an in kind rollover to Schwab, so no liquidation event, no check coming to me in the mail. Every time I call Schwab I get an answer along the lines of "just a few more business days". Anyone have any experience with the amount of time involved this process?

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Just last month I rolled my Roth from Schwab to Vanguard, an in-kind rollover. Did it all online, the funds arrived in less than a week.

 

[Flyfish1]

Just last month I rolled my Roth from Schwab to Vanguard, an in-kind rollover. Did it all online, the funds arrived in less than a week.

Thanks...but that's what is making me nervous. Seems very long for a simple transfer.

 

[Markola]

Timely post, as I’m in the same H#ll. I’m transferring a Roth from a relatively small provider, iTrust Capital to Vanguard. iTrust has dragged its feet and has a complicated process, including requiring a Medallion Signature Guarantee, which is something like a notary but hard to find.

The Vanguard person I spoke with said the smaller firms still do everything by paper, because the electronic transfer network that the big firms use is expensive.

All the bureaucratic nonsense is so counterproductive. It’s not like I’m going to give up and quit trying to get my money, and it just means I will never have favorable word of mouth about iTrust Capital and that I’ll go online and hate on ‘em.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Timely post, as I’m in the same H#ll. I’m transferring a Roth from a relatively small provider, iTrust Capital to Vanguard. iTrust has dragged its feet and has a complicated process, including requiring a Medallion Signature Guarantee, which is something like a notary but hard to find.

And expensive.

Legg Mason, or whoever they morphed into, required us to do that years after the account was established. Really pissed me off.

 

[Kings over Queens]

For me, not an IRA rollover, but rather a HSA, going from Health Equity to Fidelity. Was warned it would take up to 3 weeks and so far is on track.

Annoying part about it is that only cash could be moved, so I had to liquidate all my investments. I suppose that's a good thing considering the market performance this week.

Anyway, Health Equity froze the account within a day (10/6) or so of me hitting send on the transfer request, and Fidelity tells me it's on target for 10/25.

 

[MarieIG]

And expensive.

Legg Mason, or whoever they morphed into, required us to do that years after the account was established. Really pissed me off.

I got rid of that mess (I believe my Legg Mason account was eaten by Franklin Templeton). Luckily, it was not in a retirement account. In spite of me filling out paperwork and submitting it to Vanguard for a transfer into my brokerage account, Franklin Templeton never transferred the funds to Vanguard, and when I followed up it seemed Franklin Templeton wanted a Medallion Signature to transfer the funds to Vanguard. However, as I wanted to ditch the (overpriced) fund in any event, I had them sell it and send me a check - no Medallion or notary needed. (I tax loss harvested on another holding to cover the gains as I had it for years.) I then deposited the check and transferred the funds to the brokerage myself.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Yes, Franklin.

They really pissed me off. Was years ago and I'm still annoyed.

 

[m3bs]

Rollover from Transamerica 401K to Schwab took about 5 days. Definitely an uncomfortable feeling with a large sum of money lost in space for a few days. I was led to believe they sent a physical check, not an electronic transfer.

 

[jazz4cash]

I initiated a rollover IRA request from Nationwide to Schwab back in mid Sept.

After repeated numerous calls and emails to Nationwide and parties involved at my old company the paperwork moved to Schwab on 10/5/23. There was one Holiday involved but we are now talking about 2 weeks and nothing has happened. This is an in kind rollover to Schwab, so no liquidation event, no check coming to me in the mail. Every time I call Schwab I get an answer along the lines of "just a few more business days". Anyone have any experience with the amount of time involved this process?

Anywhere from a few days to 5 weeks for me. Five weeks is an outlier due to errors by prior custodian, a credit union. I am very surprised that Schwab seems to be the hangup at this point. Also surprised they don’t give a specific date to complete the transaction.

 

[Car-Guy]

It can be nerve-racking. IIRC most of mine have been done in 7 to 10 business days. One took almost a month and required a check to be re-issued. I don't understand why it takes so long to do a roll-over. When I do a funds transfer it's usually done in a day. What's the big deal.

 

[Texas Proud]

It matters what is being moved and who is doing it...


I rolled my 401(k) and the company stock moved in 3 days.... the rest had to be liquidated, put on a PAPER check that was mailed to me and I had to take it to Schwab to deposit...


It took almost 2 weeks to get the check...