You can make the rollover at a later time without a problem. If you are rolling from a 401k to a Roth IRA, the timing will affect your taxes. If you are rolling from a 401k to a Traditional IRA, also called a Rollover IRA in this case, you can do it at any time.

The only exception would be if you have less than $5000 vested in the 401k they can force you to take a distribution from the plan. From experience, not all plans enforce this provision, but they are not forced to keep your 401k open unless you have at least $5000.

Update: I found out some additional information recently that I wasn't aware of. Apparently you once the money is in a Rollover IRA, it can converted into a Roth IRA at any later point without incurring a distribution penalty (of course, you still have to pay that taxes at the point of conversion). There is no time limit for the conversion either.

You can make the rollover at a later time without a problem. If you are rolling from a 401k to a Roth IRA, the timing will affect your taxes. If you are rolling from a 401k to a Traditional IRA, also called a Rollover IRA in this case, you can do it at any time.

The only exception would be if you have less than $5000 vested in the 401k they can force you to take a distribution from the plan. From experience, not all plans enforce this provision, but they are not forced to keep your 401k open unless you have at least $5000.

Update: I found out some additional information recently that I wasn't aware of. Apparently you once the money is in a Rollover IRA, it can be converted into a Roth IRA at any later point without incurring a distribution penalty (of course, you still have to pay that taxes at the point of conversion). There is no time limit for the conversion either.

You can make the rollover at a later time without a problem. If you are rolling from a 401k to a Roth IRA, the timing will affect your taxes. If you are rolling from a 401k to a Traditional IRA, also called a Rollover IRA in this case, you can do it at any time.

The only exception would be if you have less than $5000 vested in the 401k they can force you to take a distribution from the plan. From experience, not all plans enforce this provision, but they are not forced to keep your 401k open unless you have at least $5000.

You can make the rollover at a later time without a problem. If you are rolling from a 401k to a Roth IRA, the timing will affect your taxes. If you are rolling from a 401k to a Traditional IRA, also called a Rollover IRA in this case, you can do it at any time.

The only exception would be if you have less than $5000 vested in the 401k they can force you to take a distribution from the plan. From experience, not all plans enforce this provision, but they are not forced to keep your 401k open unless you have at least $5000.

Update: I found out some additional information recently that I wasn't aware of. Apparently you once the money is in a Rollover IRA, it can converted into a Roth IRA at any later point without incurring a distribution penalty (of course, you still have to pay that taxes at the point of conversion). There is no time limit for the conversion either.