Fidelity transfer bonus, pros and cons

[SecretlyFI]

I’m curious if anyone has tried to request a bonus for transferring a company-managed 401K already at Fidelity into an IRA at Fidelity. My account rep has suggested that I close my 401K and transfer it into my IRA, but in the process intimated that the existing 401K, while it is at Fidelity, is still subject to the whims of my previous employer for things like which funds I can invest in.

I’m wondering if I intimated to my rep that I was considering moving my 401K to another brokerage for security/diversity protection if he’d pony up a bonus to keep it with Fido.

Thoughts?

Yes. I did exactly this in September - rollover from former employer Fidelity 401k & roth 401k to trad IRA and Roth IRA at Fidelity. Before doing the rollover, I asked if I leave the money with Fidelity after the rollover, would there be a retention bonus. The rep had to check and get back to me. Answer was yes, bonus of $1000 per million. The rollover was simple - one 15 minute phone call and the money was in the IRA’s the next day. Bonus expected about 60 days later.

 

[ransil]

Yes. I did exactly this in September - rollover from former employer Fidelity 401k & roth 401k to trad IRA and Roth IRA at Fidelity. Before doing the rollover, I asked if I leave the money with Fidelity after the rollover, would there be a retention bonus. The rep had to check and get back to me. Answer was yes, bonus of $1000 per million. The rollover was simple - one 15 minute phone call and the money was in the IRA’s the next day. Bonus expected about 60 days later.

Good to know ,we are in the same boat, had a call in couple weeks ago and the rep was going to check on it.
I have most in Vanguard and looking to move and consolidate into Fidelity, still trying to decide to move everything or split it.

 

[BarbWire]

I'll be following this to see how it works out for you - i was just getting ready to transfer >$1M to Fidelity last week for the $1k bonus and he told me Fidelity just abruptly stopped this program. Will be interested to see if you get a similar answer?

Nada. Zilch.

On Monday I phoned the general Premium Services number, asked about a txfr bonus for $3.5M from Vanguard, and was set up with a phone appointment with a "VP" at the Philadelphia office for the next morning: a smooth talker "in the business for 30 years, 6 with Fidelity" before that Schwab, ML...) who clearly didn't like that I wasn't going to sign up for assets management.

(Note that I don't have a true local office as I am a full-time traveler, and this month am in south NJ near Philly. I probably should have asked for someone in the Marllton NJ office, but figured it didn't matter for this).

The Veep said he would have to ask the Promotions office, and I was told to send the latest VG statements via secure message (fair enough, they needed to see that I really had the assets in the account). Last night I got a very short (one sentence) email from him:

"Unfortunately, our Promotions team cannot provide you a cash incentive for asset consolidation at this time."

I am not surprised, given the comment above and what I've seen on reddit. I still intend to move three accounts (IRA, Roth, Brokerage) to Fidelity but now I will just go through the Premium Services 800 number. Worst case scenario now is that they won't cover the ACATS transfer fee ($100/account).

Sigh. The bonus would have been nice but its absence is not enough to sway my decision to move from VG to Fidelity.

 

[COcheesehead]

Sorry to hear about this change with transfer bonuses.
In the past it was pretty easy. I remember when they used to advertise them right on the website. You had a choice of cash, airline miles or even an Apple gift card. I think over the years I picked up 3 or so incentives. I guess this is what $0 trading gets us in the end.
Maybe you’ll at least get free TurboTax.

 

[BarbWire]

Sorry to hear about this change with transfer bonuses.
In the past it was pretty easy. I remember when they used to advertise them right on the website. You had a choice of cash, airline miles or even an Apple gift card. I think over the years I picked up 3 or so incentives. I guess this is what $0 trading gets us in the end.
Maybe you’ll at least get free TurboTax.

Yeah.

So, since I really disliked this Veep, is there any flaw in my plan just to call the 800 number? I assume that my profile has not been "permanently assigned" to him ....

 

[COcheesehead]

Yeah.

So, since I really disliked this Veep, is there any flaw in my plan just to call the 800 number? I assume that my profile has not been "permanently assigned" to him ....

I would. That’s how I did it in the past. My memory was it was a negotiation so plead your case. $3.5m is a nice transfer.

 

[Koolau]

I would. That’s how I did it in the past. My memory was it was a negotiation so plead your case. $3.5m is a nice transfer.

Or call Vanguard and see if they will give you a bonus for STAYING with them.

 

[MTB4me]

Yes. I did exactly this in September - rollover from former employer Fidelity 401k & roth 401k to trad IRA and Roth IRA at Fidelity. Before doing the rollover, I asked if I leave the money with Fidelity after the rollover, would there be a retention bonus. The rep had to check and get back to me. Answer was yes, bonus of $1000 per million. The rollover was simple - one 15 minute phone call and the money was in the IRA’s the next day. Bonus expected about 60 days later.

Follow-up to my question on retention bonus for migrating my Fido 401K to my Fido IRA. After some initial “song and dance” and pushback from my Fido VP adviser, he filed the request and it was approved. Same compensation rate as SecretelyFI above. I had to stand firm and push for the request, but it all worked out in the end. I think he pitched it as a joint retention request for my existing brokerage account, IRAs, and 401K, but whatever he did, it worked. A nice Christmas present from Fido and my account rep. Funny part was that I literally had a piece of mail from Vanguard sitting on my desk. They were reaching out to request a consultation on their services.

Many thanks to SecretelyFI for responding to my question, giving me some ammunition and encouragement to make my request.

 

[SecretlyFI]

So glad it worked out and they came through for you. It’s worth the effort!

 

[ransil]

I talked to my FIDO rep earlier this week about a transfer bonus and she said no longer available , when I said I will think about transferring everything she rushed to end our call, also stated the 401k they hold would not count.

 

[CalBird]

There is different level of legal protection for 401k than IRA. There are some values of leaving portion of your retirement portfolio in 401K. I still have my 401k with fidelity, I might convert it to IRA in later years when I need to simplify my life.

 

[foxcreek9]

There is different level of legal protection for 401k than IRA. There are some values of leaving portion of your retirement portfolio in 401K. I still have my 401k with fidelity, I might convert it to IRA in later years when I need to simplify my life.

Depends on the state, many states have very strong IRA protections (why OJ moved to Florida). Illinois is another.

IRA Creditor Protection by State

IRA creditor protection by state and federal including a table showing which regions exempt them from judgments. Includes rollover from pensions.

www.assetprotectionplanners.com

 

[ncbill]

There is different level of legal protection for 401k than IRA. There are some values of leaving portion of your retirement portfolio in 401K. I still have my 401k with fidelity, I might convert it to IRA in later years when I need to simplify my life.

A rollover IRA (from a 401k plan) retains the unlimited protection.

Just don't add any new money...easy to open another IRA, currently protected up to ~$1.7 million.

The above is under federal law, state law often adds additional protections.

 

[Time2]

I plan on moving about $700k from IBKR to Fidelity before the end of the year. Wish I could get something for it from Fidelity.

 

[JMO1]

Do you just call Fidelity to ask if they offer a bonus to move your 401K to an IRA? Will they facilitate the transfer from several different accts? Understand that you need at least 1M.

 

[COcheesehead]

Do you just call Fidelity to ask if they offer a bonus to move your 401K to an IRA? Will they facilitate the transfer from several different accts? Understand that you need at least 1M.

Call and ask to speak to a rep. It’s a negotiation so keep that in mind.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Do you just call Fidelity to ask if they offer a bonus to move your 401K to an IRA? Will they facilitate the transfer from several different accts? Understand that you need at least 1M.

It’s been a couple years, but I called both Schwab and Fidelity and told them what I had and in what type of accounts. I told both I was in the fact-gathering stage and was researching multiple brokers. After discussing what it would be like to move my assets, I asked each if they would offer a bonus to get my business. Both had to get back to me later on this. Both offered something. I chose Schwab.

 

[G-Man]

Follow-up to my question on retention bonus for migrating my Fido 401K to my Fido IRA. After some initial “song and dance” and pushback from my Fido VP adviser, he filed the request and it was approved. Same compensation rate as SecretelyFI above. I had to stand firm and push for the request, but it all worked out in the end. I think he pitched it as a joint retention request for my existing brokerage account, IRAs, and 401K, but whatever he did, it worked. A nice Christmas present from Fido and my account rep. Funny part was that I literally had a piece of mail from Vanguard sitting on my desk. They were reaching out to request a consultation on their services.

Many thanks to SecretelyFI for responding to my question, giving me some ammunition and encouragement to make my request.

Our company 401k is managed by Fidelity (they are the custodian) as well and I thinking about rolling over to a Fidelity IRA. I currently have a local Fidelity advisor that I have been using for the last 5 years, and we meet twice a year. I'm wondering if I should approach him first for the retention bonus.

Any advice?

 

[COcheesehead]

Our company 401k is managed by Fidelity (they are the custodian) as well and I thinking about rolling over to a Fidelity IRA. I currently have a local Fidelity advisor that I have been using for the last 5 years and we met twice a year. I'm wondering if I should approach him first for the retention bonus.

Any advice?

Sounds more like a Fidelity to Fidelity transfer.

 

[G-Man]

It looks like several other folks in my same situation (company 401k is already managed by Fidelity) has gotten the retention bonus for rolling over Fidelity managed 401k to a Fidelity IRA. Just trying to see if there are any tips or tricks to get the retention bonus.

 

[COcheesehead]

It looks like several other folks in my same situation (company 401k is already managed by Fidelity) has gotten the retention bonus for rolling over Fidelity managed 401k to a Fidelity IRA. Just trying to see if there are any tips or tricks to get the retention bonus.

You have to ask and consider it a negotiation. They will start at $1000 per million, but I know folks who got more by pressing.

 

[G-Man]

Any pros and cons with leaving it in the 401k account? I turn 59 1/2 in several weeks.

In addition, should I make sure that the 401k dollars are in funds that is capable of doing an in-kind transfer?

 

[COcheesehead]

Any pros and cons with leaving it in the 401k account? I turn 59 1/2 in several weeks.

In addition, should I make sure that the 401k dollars are in funds that is capable of doing an in-kind transfer?

I rolled mine just to get more investment options. I only had access to one family of funds.

 

[imbatman]

I recently transferred well below $1M from my 401K to Fido and was told no promos under $1M AND they don't reimburse any transfer fees for workplace retirement accounts. I had been told differently about the transfer fees about a year ago but now called and talked to three different people and all gave the same answer. Sure they are more flexible if you bring more money but FWIW.

 

[G-Man]

Are there anymore pros and cons of rolling my 401k over to a T-IRA?