401k money gone- withdrawn

[maria's_mommy]

Hi everyone- I didn't know where else to turn on Sat. evening. We received my DH's 401k statement today ( he left this company 3 yrs ago but never rolled over) and it says on 6-18 all the money was withdrawn but it doesn't say where. That was 3 weeks ago. If they company changed 401k companies we have not received anything. Nor have we received a check if they cashed us out- it was only $1900 but enough I'm concerned. Anyone have any thoughts? No one will be open until Mon.
Thanks

 

[Swimalie]

Are you able to log on to the company on line and see anything?

 

[maria's_mommy]

Hi, Only the date and it was withdrawn

 

[wdwfan16]

Hi everyone- I didn't know where else to turn on Sat. evening. We received my DH's 401k statement today ( he left this company 3 yrs ago but never rolled over) and it says on 6-18 all the money was withdrawn but it doesn't say where. That was 3 weeks ago. If they company changed 401k companies we have not received anything. Nor have we received a check if they cashed us out- it was only $1900 but enough I'm concerned. Anyone have any thoughts? No one will be open until Mon.
Thanks

Most likely the company changed plans and this was the closing of the old plan so the money could be moved to the new plan. Call the number on the paperwork and they should be able to point you to who to contact at the company.

I recommend that you roll it over into an IRA and take control of the money.

 

[clh2]

most likely the company changed plans and this was the closing of the old plan so the money could be moved to the new plan. Call the number on the paperwork and they should be able to point you to who to contact at the company.

I recommend that you roll it over into an ira and take control of the money.

ita!

 

[sloneta]

Another possibility is that is was automatically rolled over to an IRA pursuant to the terms of the plan. Depending on the plan's terms, accounts of terminated participants that are below a certain threshold ($5,000 or $1,000, typically) are automatically distributed, but if it is between those two amounts it has to be automatically rolled over to an IRA. So, this may have just been some administrative clean up of the plan.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

After you find the money, I definitely suggest rolling it over to an IRA with a company of your choosing. That way you'll have more control over your money and won't be at the mercy of an ex-employer possibly changing 401(k) providers without you knowing it.

 

[FutureDis]

If you move the money, make sure THEY (the companies involved) move the money. Do NOT get it cashed out (a check sent to you), then deposit it into an IRA yourself, or you WILL have to pay taxes on it (and maybe penalties).

 

[PatsMom]

If you move the money, make sure THEY (the companies involved) move the money. Do NOT get it cashed out (a check sent to you), then deposit it into an IRA yourself, or you WILL have to pay taxes on it (and maybe penalties).

This is not true. If a check is sent to you, you have 60 days to roll it over to an IRA (60 days from the date on the check, not the date you receive it). If taxes were withheld, you do need to add those back to the deposit to avoid owing tax and possibly penalty on the withheld amount.

From the amount of money you mention, it sounds like an involuntary cash out of some type. Plans do not like to keep small balances because they sponsor generally has to pay administrative expenses to the record keepers and custodians. So when you call on Monday you are probably going to find out that one of the three things already mentioned has happened - the plan changed providers and you missed the notification, they have rolled the money into an IRA in your name, or they have sent you a check that you haven't received yet.

You should have been notified of any of those three things happening but the mail often looks like junk mail and gets discarded. Or if you are getting your notifications electronically I've had mine caught by the spam filters we use to keep out mass junk mail.

No matter what, I would make sure to track down the money right away! $1,900 is not a fortune but it is a nice amount!

 

[bootleg89]

I'm surprised no one contacted you even in writing if it was some kind of roll over. My DH was in the same situation, after 2 years the ex- employer said they would no longer keep the money in their account via a letter. The 401K company then gave us the option of rolling over to one of their accounts of cashing out.
Did they have all your current information. Address, bank info? I know that we choose to cash out and had to update our banking info so that we could get it direct deposit to our checking account.
But at the same time, it's also a bit of a process to withdraw so hopefully it wasn't some kinda theft. We withdrew a second time when we purchased our home and had to qualify to withdraw. We had to tell them what we wanted the money for and when we planned to pay the taxes and still had to verify identity. Not an easy process especially if you are not who you say you are.
Look in to it as soon as possible Hopefully the ex-employer just changed financial companies and that's why there was a withdraw. When Dh current company did this all he got was an email stating that as of such and such date he would have to go to xyz.com to check 401k info. Hopefully that is what happened but ur DH didn't get the info since he is no longer an employee.
Best of luck.