Moving Roth IRA Plan Assets
Published in General
Moving Roth IRA plan assets from one Roth IRA to another Roth IRA is very easy, it’s known as a transfer and it is a tax-free, non-reportable movement of assets between retirement plans. Moving assets from one Roth IRA to another can be accomplished through a transfer and there is no limit on the number of transfers you can have between the trustees or custodians.
Call up the destination trustee/custodian and ask them to explain their Roth IRA transfer process. It should be pretty straightforward, they want your business! They’ll probably have you open the Roth IRA account. They may have forms you need to fill out or an account number you need to put on the check (or in a letter accompanying the check to give them instructions).
You’ll also want to find out the name you need to put on the check. For Vanguard, the name is Vanguard FTC and not just Vanguard Group because the name for the check is Vanguard Fiduciary Trust Corporation. You’ll need to call to get the name of your trustee/custodian, don’t guess.
Next, call up the original trustee/custodian and request a transfer, give them the name of the destination trustee/custodian. Some trustees will mail the check to you, some will mail it directly to the destination, it’s up to them. Some trustees will also charge a fee to close, if you can, try to pay for it separately and not have it deducted from your account (you want your retirement funds to be as large as possible so it can grow tax-free).
Once you receive the check, forward it along to the next trustee along with a letter of instruction and you should be all set.
