Do we really have to wait until BNY decides to send us some documentation via mail or is there anything we can do beforehand?
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Yes. There is no change whatsoever. Roll it over or keep it with Voya… your choice as always.
You need to get in touch with HR immediately. They should have sent you the 401K rollover kit. I wonder what else they didn’t send.
Yea, you can do everything that you want to do with it. It’s your money,
Be very careful how you do the rollover so it's not considered a taxable event.
Anybody knows what the story is on our 401K when we are displaced? Do they keep it there or is it at our banks?
401-K Rollovers are simple and I’ll demystify them.
First, there is no hurry and no reason to roll your Voya 401K over if you like them but I have no idea why anyone would like them. Fidelity, Schwab & Vanguard are all excellent choices. No hurry doesn't mean forget about it.
It means to find a custodian that you like and set up a relationship. Once you have the relationship you can roll over all other standard and Roth 401s to them, add regular brokerage accounts forever. Keep life simple… consolidate your whole set of rolled over standard & Roth accounts can all be placed with the same custodian. Infinitely better than trying to track down all of your old 401ks when you’re older.
It’s your money. You can yank it out at any time, for whatever reason or for no good reason at all. Your first decision is to determine why you’re grabbing the money. If it’s hardship with bills to pay and financial issues you likely want to withdraw it all and pay the taxes. You will get a 1099 something form so you will pay taxes.
But financial hardships are THE common situation for all adult couples who’ve raised a family so it’s better to tough it out even if it takes multiple jobs as boomers have always done and still do. So try to roll it over instead if you can possibly swing it. There are many rainy days.
To roll over your IRA set up an account with Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, or even a trusted bank. Avoid money managers such as Fisher Investments and Pershing that make all of their money off of you. They’re risky because they are all in for the long term all the time and so have high risk over any smaller period… such as the last 25 years of your life for example. Fisher in particular is overly aggressive for any retiree and they will churn your account needlessly while ignoring directives.
After picking your rollover destination ask them how you can move the money to an account there. First set up the account and then ask them how the check to your account should be endorsed. VOYA prefers to simply mail a check to you with no tracking. If you press them for UPS they will be able to give you a trackable UPS package.
This common sense advice will allow you to have a degree of simplicity to your affairs despite many accounts. Many people have so many old accounts lingering out there in the past that they forget all about them. Don’t be one of those people.
What kind of news? Between the separation documents and bnymellon401k you have all the information you need.