Rollovers and IRA transfers for 401k, 403(b),

TSA & 457 plans

Probably no other single investment effects more people
today than their qualified retirement plans, such as: 457 plans, 401k's & 403(b)'s.

Do you have a 401(k), 403(b), TSA or a Government retirement 457 plan? Then a

                                  "ROLLOVER" is something you need to know ALL about.  

Let's cover the BASICS of 401k's and other similar retirement plans, such as 403(b) TSA or 

457 plans:

·         Money contributed into these plans are "pre-tax dollars," meaning, you don't pay 

     taxes on that money UNTIL you withdraw the money from the retirement plan. It also 

     means that this money grows "tax-deferred". 

·         Contributions to plans can come from employee salary reduction or from the employer, 

or both.

·         If your income is under $200,000, each individual employee can defer up to $12,000 

per year of their pre-tax income for those under age 50 and $14,000 per year, for those 

over the age of 50 (for the year of 2003) this is adjusted annually for inflation.

·         Employees are immediately 100% vested with their own tax deferred contributions, 

and when, and if they leave their company employ, they can ROLL their account into 

an individual personal IRA, or to a new company's 401K. 

·         Investment choices in 401k's may offer a limited number of investment choices to 

choose from.

·         Some plans offer MATCHING contributions from their employer. This is often 

misunderstood. If they say they will match 5%, that means, they take your annual 

income X 5% and that amount is the maximum they will put in, if you make your 

contributions! In other words, if you earn $50,000x5%=$2,500, but you put in 

$4,000, they will only match up to the first $2,500, if it is a dollar-for-dollar match. 

Some only match .50 cents for each dollar.

·         Some 401k's allow investment changes about once a quarter, others may allow 

more frequent changes.

·         Some plans offer direct loans, hardship loans and disability loan provisions, but not 

all plans.

·         If they wish, the employer can restrict individuals with less than 1 year of service, 

union members, non US citizens, part-time workers etc., from being eligible for 

the plan.

·         Withdrawals from any retirement plan: 401k, 403b, 457 plan or IRA 's are income 

taxable when you take the money OUT! If, you are UNDER age 59 ½, (except 

hardship cases and other special situations) there may be an "IRS Early withdrawal 

10% PENALTY" as well.

·         To AVOID the above mentioned additional 10% penalty see "What is a 72t?"

·         Retirement plans are established by your employer, but are managed by a 

"Third-Party Administrator", not your employer (except some governmental plans). 

The company chosen as the "Administrator" can, and may change, from time to time.

                    What is a "ROLLOVER into an IRA"?

Generally, after a person leaves the employ of a company, they are given the 

option to roll their 401K plans into a new company's plans, if available, or into 

a Rollover IRA.

Frequently, the choice is made to roll into an IRA because of the flexibility and vast array 

of investment choices available. Once in an IRA, the owner is no longer restricted to the 

investment choices offered by their employer plan, nor is the participant subject to any 

potential future restrictions imposed by the new employer, if any.

Most retirement plans can be easily rolled into either a variety of mutual funds, stocks, 

bonds or into either a Fixed IRA annuity or an Indexed IRA annuity or a variable annuity.

However, there may be some costs to do this. There may be other ongoing costs that 

should be considered as well. There may be surrender charges when you want to move 

some or part of your money as well. Check with your Financial Advisor and read the 

prospectus regarding any investments you might be considering. 

What are your OPTIONS when doing a ROLLOVER?

1.      You can move/rollover, all or PART, of your 401k into one, or more IRA's. 

2.      You can move/rollover, all or PART, of your 401k into one, or more companies

          and multiple IRA's..

3.      You can move/rollover, all or PART, of your 401k into one, or more IRA 

          mutual funds and/or IRA annuities.

4.      You can move/rollover, all or PART, of your 401k into stocks within an IRA 

          account.

NOTE: Most 401k plan administrators do NOT allow partial rollovers. It's all or nothing 

in most cases. However, if you want to move your retirement money into more than one 

place I’d be pleased to show you a way to do it. Just ask!

There is an almost unlimited number of possible combinations possible. It takes the 

experience of a knowledgeable Financial Advisor to know what is best in each particular 

scenario. Everyone is different and so are their needs and desires! E-MAIL me if you like  

and we can discuss YOUR SPECIFIC NEEDS!  Got a Question?   

§ NOTE: All Guarantees are based on the financial strength and claims paying 

abilities of the  company chosen for your annuity. Feel free to contact me for 

more detailed information. 

                                      457 PLAN "Rollovers"! 

What are 457 plans? City, state, local and most any governmental qualified deferred 

compensation plans. YES, as of January 1st, 2002 (due to the 2001 Tax Reconciliation 

Act) may also be rolled into an IRA. AFTER YOU LEAVE THEIR EMPLOYMENT!  

I said ALMOST. You have to check with your plan administrator and have them check 

the "WORDING" of your specific plan (they differ widely). But in most cases, these plans 

can be rolled into an IRA for potentially increased investing options and continued 

tax-deferred growth, distributions and possibly better control

                       Taking CONTROL of your 403(b)! 

                    What is a 9024 transfer?

NOTE: Generally, individuals "currently employed" cannot move their retirement plan 

to another company/administrator, or to an IRA; however, some major companies do 

permit active 403(b) participants to roll all or part of their 403(b) money into an individual 

private IRA.

Also note that those who have 403(b)'s (also commonly called TSA accounts) may be 

able to MOVE their plans almost anytime they desire (even if still currently employed 

with their employer). It's very easy to ROLL a 403(b) (which is a variable annuity in 

most cases already, into a PRIVATE IRA Variable Annuity, which may offer more 

investment options and control BY YOU, the 403(b)/IRA owner. NOTE: once you roll 

(convert) a 403(b) into an IRA. You can not make future contributions to the new 

IRA plan but you can continue making contributions to the OLD 403(b) plan, if desired.

                                         What are your OPTIONS?

Cash it in! (Pay the income taxes on any amount withdrawn and kept, 

PLUS, if you are under age 59 1/2 there will be the additional 10% IRS early 

withdrawal penalty mentioned above.)

See 72t for a way to avoid this additional 10% early withdrawal penalty.

Move it- to a NEW employers 401k plan. (If that is allowed.) You may be 

better off rolling it into a private 403(b) or an IRA. However, it must be noted that 

IRA's do not have the ability to take loans against those funds. For this reason, often 

people choose to move their old 403(b) money into a new employers 401k plan 

which may allow loans. This would then allow them to make loans on their retirement 

money, if needed. Some do, some don't! Check with your plan administrator before 

making any changes.

A ROLLOVER! (as detailed in this article) is often the most preferred 

option of all....  

NOTE: annuities are NOT used for their tax-deferred growth when combined 

with an IRA. There are many other reasons (as described here) for using an 

annuity, since an IRA already offers tax-deferred growth without the use of an 

annuity.

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