Trying to roll my previous employers Roth 401k into my current company's. Got two checks from old employer, one pre tax (I assume this was from the employer match) and then one for the Roth.

When going to roll this over to the new 401k, they are asking for the Roth portion to be broken up by contributions and earnings. No where on the check does it mention this breakdown. Called previous retirement account firm and they don't know this information, which is odd to me.

Just asking what is the harm if I make this up? I though Roth contribution and earnings should be after tax, so what does it matter?

TIA!

Howdy Dammit said:

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Trying to roll my previous employers Roth 401k into my current company's. Got two checks from old employer, one pre tax (I assume this was from the employer match) and then one for the Roth.

When going to roll this over to the new 401k, they are asking for the Roth portion to be broken up by contributions and earnings. No where on the check does it mention this breakdown. Called previous retirement account firm and they don't know this information, which is odd to me.

Just asking what is the harm if I make this up? I though Roth contribution and earnings should be after tax, so what does it matter?

TIA!

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Oh, they know it. The person you spoke to may not, but their recordkeeping system certainly does. Was it not on your last statement? Or can you request one?

Also, is there any reason you want it rolled into your current company's 401(k)? I can think of a couple of edge-case reasons myself (to take advantage of the age 55 rule or to have slightly lower fees), but that would probably restrict your investment options quite a lot.

Is it standard not to consolidate? I stay at jobs quite a while, but can't imagine in 30 years I want 10 different retirement accounts scattered about.

Howdy Dammit said:

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Is it standard not to consolidate? I stay at jobs quite a while, but can't imagine in 30 years I want 10 different retirement accounts scattered about.

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It's really up to you. I have normally rolled old 401k's into new company's plans, but some like the freedom of rolling them into IRAs instead so that they have more options to invest the funds.

I actually just rolled over an old 401k that had been rolled into an IRA back into my current employer's 401k plan to remove that pre-tax IRA from the equation when doing my backdoor Roth conversions with my post-tax IRA.

Howdy Dammit said:

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Is it standard not to consolidate? I stay at jobs quite a while, but can't imagine in 30 years I want 10 different retirement accounts scattered about.

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Oh, I wouldn't leave it there either. I'd consolidate them all in a single IRA/ROTH IRA so I have more control over them.

One more vote for roll it to an independent account and not your company's 401k. You'll have way more options and more control.

I am confused. How did you or how will avoid tax doing this?

By rolling my pre-tax IRA into my 401k I'm effectively getting rid of the pro-rata rule. My remaining IRA is all post-tax dollars, less whatever taxes are due on any gains before the backdoor conversion.

I rolled my 401k into my own IRA at Fidelity but we are currently leaving my wife's 401k with her previous employer for now. Made sense from an allocation and cost perspective to just leave it.

And when/if she goes back to work it will be independently anyway.

I'd recommend rolling over old 401k(s) to an IRA.... so many options / freedoms than what a company 401k offers. Even if you stick with just mutual funds or etfs, they still have tons more options.

Cyprian said:

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I'd recommend rolling over old 401k(s) to an IRA.... so many options / freedoms than what a company 401k offers. Even if you stick with just mutual funds or etfs, they still have tons more options.

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Unless you typically do back door Roth IRA contributions. Moving your old 401(k) into an IRA will make future back door Roth contributions partially taxable.

Howdy Dammit said:

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Trying to roll my previous employers Roth 401k into my current company's. Got two checks from old employer, one pre tax (I assume this was from the employer match) and then one for the Roth.

When going to roll this over to the new 401k, they are asking for the Roth portion to be broken up by contributions and earnings. No where on the check does it mention this breakdown. Called previous retirement account firm and they don't know this information, which is odd to me.

Just asking what is the harm if I make this up? I though Roth contribution and earnings should be after tax, so what does it matter?

TIA!

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I never had a Roth, but the earnings are tax free. why do you need to roll it into your new company, why not just upen an account with a brokerage?

Ark03 said:

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Howdy Dammit said:

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Is it standard not to consolidate? I stay at jobs quite a while, but can't imagine in 30 years I want 10 different retirement accounts scattered about.

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Oh, I wouldn't leave it there either. I'd consolidate them all in a single IRA/ROTH IRA so I have more control over them.

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you don't need to consolidate to have control over them.