Questions tagged [401k]

A 401(k) account is a tax-deferred retirement savings account setup by many employers for their employees in the United States. Employees can elect to contribute part of their earnings - either pre-tax or after-tax - to their 401k account and the employer will often make a matching contribution for a portion of it. The before-tax and/or after-tax contributions are subject to yearly limits set by the IRS. Related to the 403b and Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)

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2 votes
1 answer
84 views

Quotes for funds in my Fidelity-managed 401(k)?

I've had several employer-provided plans through Fidelity over the years. Fortunately, they offered extremely low-cost passive investment options, like Vanguard Institutional Index Trust, which tracks ...
15 votes
4 answers
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Did I give the right advice to my father about his 401k being down?

My dad has seen recently that I have taken an interest in finance and he asked me what he could do about his 401k being down. So I said the US is currently in a recession and now you should put in ...
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How to 'recession-proof' a 401k (least risky investments)?

A 401k can have risky and less risky investments. What are recommended as the least risky investments within a 401k within the USA?? Presently most of the 401k is in conservative funds (PHYZX, MWTIX). ...
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pending recession: keep money in 401k or savings account?

Husband and I are on Social Security. I have a 401k of about $225K, not a lot. With the impending recession, probably during Q2 2023, husband wants me to withdraw $$$ (e.g. $8K) from 401k and put it ...
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5 votes
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Does the pro rate rule on taxes for backdoor Roth IRA conversion apply if you have multiple Roth NOT traditional IRAs?

This is a follow up of the question here about rolling over traditional IRAs to 401k. The pro rata rule looks at the amounts in all your traditional IRAs when you do a backdoor Roth conversion. Does ...
3 votes
2 answers
586 views

Can I regularly direct funds to a different retirement account?

I don't like my company's retirement plan sponsor. I feel their array of investment options are quite poor (poor because they don't have many options, their expense fees are high, and they don't offer ...
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2 votes
3 answers
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What are the reasons to avoid rolling over IRA into 401k plans?

Are there reasons for and against doing this? For I can only think of having more options for what securities to buy in IRAs since 401k options are limited. Against The only reason to do the IRA ...
3 votes
1 answer
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Contribution limit differences between 401k and IRAs

Is there a reason why the contribution limits of these are drastically different with the 401k limits being about three times higher? Moreover, why is it that the 401k limits go up over the years but ...
2 votes
3 answers
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Is there a grace period for getting money back out of your 401k plan?

Is there a "grace period" on getting that money back out? For example, if I put $3000 in in April, and I need that $3000 in May, can get it out before the end of the year, can I just pay the ...
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10 votes
1 answer
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Is a 401K taxed as regular income when the owner dies?

If an owner takes distributions from a 401K, it is taxed as regular income. If the owner of the 401K dies (with no beneficiaries) the money is put into the estate of the deceased. Is it still taxed ...
2 votes
1 answer
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What should I do with 401K and HSA to avoid cashing out penalty if I leave the US?

I'm a foreigner working in the US. I know if I don't work or reside in the US anymore, I can roll over to my country's accounts or cash out. But cashing out is subjected to a penalty, so of course I ...
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How can unvested assets land in one's Self-Directed Brokerage 401(k) account?

I read in a US-based employer-sponsored 401(k) plan managed by Vanguard the following warning while attempting to change the contribution allocation: All Sources: Your plan has restrictions on having ...
3 votes
1 answer
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How do I control how dividends are reinvested in my 401(k)?

I have a 401(k) through Ascensus. I would like to do tax loss harvesting with an index fund I hold in my taxable account and I want to make sure there is no possible wash sale in my 401(k). Therefore, ...
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3 answers
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Financial efficiency - purchasing a car with cash from retirement withdrawal vs. by financing

When someone in their retirement is purchasing a car, is it financially more efficient for them to take a lump sum of cash out of a deferred-tax retirement account (and pay income tax on it), or is it ...
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2 votes
1 answer
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Borrow from 401k (and pay interest to myself) or take a loan from bank (and pay interest to the bank) to buy a car?

Should I borrow against my 401k at 6% interest rate (which I pay to myself) or take a loan through a bank at 3.5% interest rate (which is paid to the bank)? Buying a car for my kids and can't afford ...
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2 answers
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Does Highly compensated employee designation for 401k plans consider total income from multiple jobs?

Looking for guidance on following situation: If someone works for two employers who both offer 401k. Is the HCE qualification based on the compensation from the EMPLOYER for which the employee chooses ...
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2 votes
1 answer
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401k Matching Rules Regarding Losses when Match is Revoked

My employer matches my 401k but it is on a long vesting schedule and I will almost certainly leave before it finishes vesting. I know I will have to give it back but was wondering how to gains/losses ...
1 vote
1 answer
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How do I reverse an excess 401K Contribution?

I contributed around 10K with no employer match. I changed jobs in the mid year, now the I have new 401K with Match. I want to max it out so I can get the match in full. How do I take out the ...
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401K loan duration when purchasing primary residence

I'm considering taking out a 401K loan from my Solo 401K (I'm both the only participant and administrator) as part of financing the purchase of my primary residence. I know that you can borrow up to ...
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1 vote
1 answer
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Is there a penalty for rolling a 401(k) into new employer while the markets are down?

I have a 401(k) account with my old employer which I have not rolled over yet to my new employer. As I am no longer contributing to the old account or employed by them, I am wondering if there any ...
1 vote
1 answer
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Can contributing to 401(k) make me eligible for Roth IRA?

In 2022, the Roth IRA contribution limit reduces from $6000 to $0 for as income increases from $129k to $144k (for a single filer). The 401(k) limit is $20,500. If my salary is $145k (too high for ...
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1 answer
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What are the Italian equivalents of 401K, Roth IRA and Savings account?

I am Italian and I consume a lot of internet content about saving and investing (that's why I am here too!). I often hear or read about: 401K Maxing out your 401K (and meeting your employer's match) ...
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1 answer
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Do you get any social security credits if you put 100% of your income in a 401(k)?

Scenario: Your spouse is the primary earner You had a 1099 side-job earning $15k You put all $15k in a solo-401(k) plan Would you earn any social security credits in this situation?
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Does 401k contribution to index fund pay dividends?

My 401k fund has an option for investment in S&P 500 index fund, however the investment doesn't come with any dividend yield. S&P 500 index funds such as VOO, SPY come with a dividend yield. ...
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Why is the YTD return for my 401k contributions down 20% but the YTD return on S&P500 is 1.5%?

I imagined that my 401k investments must be going to some low-risk-stable-return type of financial investments. However, when I checked the YTD return on my 401k contributions for this year, it was ...
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1 answer
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How to contribute capital from 401k or IRA to a Series LLC?

I am new to this thread and I'm seeking some basic advice or comment for this matter. Please assume that any investment risks are taken into consideration. Objective: I would like to bootstrap an ...
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Traditional 401k to Roth IRA - do employer contributions count as Roth IRA contributions or earnings? [duplicate]

I understand that Roth IRAs allow withdrawing your contributions before age 59 1/2 with no penalty. At my old job I had a Roth 401k, but my employer's match went to a Traditional 401k, and I'd like to ...
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If I have a Roth 401k, what would making after-tax contributions mean?

(To start, i know the Roth 401k uses after tax dollars, and i know that the IRS allows further “after-tax contributions.” This makes it seem kind of confusing, as it would appear I’m asking about ...
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Tax calculation question from Forbes article

From this article, When To Use Pre-Tax Vs Roth 401(k) Contributions, I'm confused on how the 31% difference was calculated from the given example: For example, if your household taxable income is $500,...
2 votes
1 answer
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Can I roll over my Roth IRA into 401(k), and should I?

I have an Roth IRA through Wealthfront that I opened several years ago. I also have a company 401(k) through Fidelity NetBenefits. Since the Roth IRA is a personal account (no employer match, no ...
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3 answers
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What is the difference between a 401k rollover vs IRA?

I have a Fidelity account for my older company's 401k plan which will expire soon. They told me if I don't do anything, it will convert into an IRA automatically. Alternatively I can make a rollover ...
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12 votes
2 answers
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Employer tax benefits of 401k matching vs salary increase

I was trying to understand why a company would offer 401k matching instead of higher salaries to employees. I read that some states require companies to offer retirement things which makes sense. One ...
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1 vote
2 answers
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Can I put my raise into 401k without a change to my paycheck & taxes?

I received a 2.5% raise. My HR website says : per paycheck (13%) : (12% before tax + 1% Roth 401k) and Getting Full Company Match Yes If I take home $X/week, change my contribution to 15.5%, will ...
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2 votes
0 answers
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Identity theft issue: Fidelity showing another person’s profile on my 401k, Fidelity closed the request

My employer provides 401k and I opened a 401k with Fidelity in September. I have been contributing to the 401k since. Recently, I logged into my account and my user profile on Fidelity is showing a ...
2 votes
1 answer
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How are 2nd year tax filing for coronavirus related early withdrawal entered?

I need help understanding how/where to enter the 2nd year's worth of the 3 year spread of tax on 2020's coronavirus 401k withdrawal. How do you file the 2nd and 3rd year? The first year I got 2 1099R'...
1 vote
2 answers
287 views

My Schwab 401k account has been emptied inexplicably, can I get my money back?

Today, while I was preparing my 2021 tax, I was checking my 401k account and shocked that my account is empty. Somebody sold my ETF holding and transferred out on Sep 01 2021. It's Saturday, nobody ...
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2 votes
2 answers
146 views

Should one max out one's 401(k) at the beginning of the year?

Assume that: The employers catch up on the missing match at the end of the year, via as year-end true-up contributions. Should one max out one's 401(k) at the beginning of the year? I have no idea ...
1 vote
1 answer
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How do should I optimize my 401k employee contribution to maximize my employer's contribution?

I just want to maximize my employer's contribution. My current employer plan has the following constraints Company will provide a 100% (dollar-for- dollar) match on the first 5% of eligible W-2 ...
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2 votes
2 answers
219 views

Are the fees in my new 401k reasonable?

My employer has just moved from a Simple IRA to a 401k plan that I enrolled in. The fund in the 401k plan is the Vanguard VFORX 2040 target date plan. I felt pretty good about that expense ratio, but ...
2 votes
1 answer
162 views

What happens to the NOT vested balance when my former employer switches 401k companies?

I have a complicated 401k situation. I had a contract job and the contract I was on got cancelled. I did not voluntarily quit, and I was not fired with cause. My contract was cancelled due to a ...
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Self Directed IRA take over current mortgage?

My family and I currently live in a townhome. We are interested in buying a single family home which will be our primary residence. We would like to keep this home and rent it out as an investment ...
2 votes
2 answers
238 views

Reduce salary in exchange for higher employer 401k contribution?

Would it be in my interest (assuming my employer agrees) to reduce my salary by x amount in exchange for an increase in employer 401k contribution for x amount? For example if I make $150,000/yr and ...
2 votes
2 answers
640 views

If you sell stocks within a 401k but don't pull the money out of your account, is it taxed?

If I have say a 401k account, and say I sell some of my stocks in there, but I don't pull the money out of my account, is the only tax involved the capital gains tax? Or will I pay my income tax on it ...
3 votes
3 answers
327 views

Is a company 401k better than a IRA?

Company is moving to a poorly rated 401k provider. If I keep the money in company 401k I can take advantage of dollar cost averaging with poor fund choices. If I rollover to an IRA I can invest as I ...
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1 answer
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Distribution of funds between pre-tax and ROTH for a under 30 years old

What is the usual contribution percentage for an under 30 years? I am trying to change mine but I am not sure how much what I should change it to. equal distribution between ROTH and pre-tax or more ...
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3 votes
1 answer
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Do employers typically match the contributions you put in proportionally?

My employer goes through Transamerica for our retirement accounts, and it allows us to split up our contributions between a 401k and a Roth account. Since there is a limit to the Roth contributions ...
4 votes
1 answer
242 views

Can an employer limit 401k participation for HCE’s?

I just received a notice from my employer that based on my 2021 income, I’m considered a highly compensated employee for 2022 and not eligible to participate in the company’s 401(k) program for 2022 (...
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Better to withdraw from 401k or take out home equity loan for investment opportunity?

There is a fast-approaching investment opportunity (January) that I very strongly believe will have significant short-term (2x - 5x within a matter of months) and long term returns. I need ...
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1 vote
1 answer
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When 401K gets rolled over to a rollover IRA OR Traditional IRA gets rolled over to Roth IRA, do the stock units get preserved?

Consider a traditional 401K getting rolled over to a rollover IRA. When such a rollover happens, do the stocks and mutual funds get sold and the total sum gets transferred as cash into the new account ...
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Does Contributions To A Simple 401K Plan Count Toward The Yearly "Normal" 401K Contribution Limit?

I work two jobs and have a "normal" 401K plan from one of the two jobs. The contribution ceiling for a "normal" 401K plan in 2021 is $19,500. I know that contributing to a SEP ...

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