Never forget the Two-Year Rule while making decisions.
When you leave a firm where you participated in an employer-sponsored retirement plan such as a 401(k), what happens to the money that was saved in your account? In the vast majority of cases, the process of rolling over your assets into another plan or an individual retirement account (IRA) is rather uncomplicated. If everything is carried out as it should, there will be no need to pay any taxes. You won’t have to do anything, not even write a check; everything will be taken care of for you.
It is possible that the procedure of rolling over assets from a SIMPLE IRA (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) into an IRA will be straightforward for you. Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees is what the acronym “SIMPLE” stands for. On the other hand, as part of the procedure, you will be compelled to think about an extra question that would not arise if you were rolling over 401(k) assets, and that question is as follows: How long have you been a participant in the Individual Retirement Account for Simple Dollars program?
Key Takeaways
It is recommended that you pursue the route of a trustee-to-trustee transfer when rolling over a SIMPLE IRA.
If you make contributions to a SIMPLE IRA and then opt to roll those contributions over to a normal IRA or 401(k) (k) plan during the first two years after making those contributions, you will be required to pay taxes on those payments.
If you haven’t had your SIMPLE IRA for the full two years, transferring it to another SIMPLE IRA may be able to help you avoid any potential tax issues that may arise.
You also have the choice to put the process of rolling over funds on hold until after a period of two years has passed.
In What Ways Are You Able to Make Choices?
When you leave an employer where you held a SIMPLE IRA, you have a few choices to make regarding what to do with the assets that are kept within that account. Transferring money from one SIMPLE IRA to another SIMPLE IRA, a traditional IRA, or another qualifying plan such as a 401(k) (k) is something that can be done. On the other hand, in the same manner that you need to make sure that you follow the correct method with a 401(k), you need to make sure that you have a pension plan. It is possible that this will allow you to avoid having to pay any taxes or other penalties that are associated with the transfer of the asset.
You have the option of transferring your assets from one trustee to another in order to complete the liquidation of your holdings in the SIMPLE IRA plan that was provided to you by your prior employer. After that, you will have the option of contributing to your rolled over SIMPLE IRA by either initiating a wire transfer or writing a check. The funds will be able to be moved into your brand-new rollover account if you choose to go about things in this manner.
If you get a check for the purposes of a rollover, you will normally have a period of sixty days during which you can deposit the funds into your individual retirement account (IRA). If you do not deposit the funds during this time frame, the monies will be forfeited.
The process of rolling over money from a 401(k) into a SIMPLE IRA is quite similar to the process of rolling over money into a traditional IRA. The way you respond to the final question on the length of time you’ve been participating in the plan will determine what happens next.
What Exactly Does It Mean to Stick to the ‘Two-Year Rule’?
Within the first two years that follow the year in which you made your initial contribution to the SIMPLE IRA, you are permitted to transfer any money from one SIMPLE IRA to another SIMPLE IRA. This rule applies even if the money is in different amounts. A tax-free transfer occurs when one trustee hands over their responsibilities to another trustee.
But let’s say you make the decision to put the money into a traditional individual retirement account (IRA) or a 401(k) plan within the first two years that the account has been open. What outcomes may there be? If this occurs, the money will not be able to be rolled over into an account that is exempt from taxes, and you will be responsible for paying taxes on it. In its place, the transaction is interpreted as a withdrawal from the SIMPLE IRA and a deposit into the new account that has been established. Because of this, the tax burden will be extremely severe. It is also probable that it will cause issues with the yearly IRA contribution limit that is set by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In accordance with this clause, early payouts may be subject to an extra tax of up to 25%, which is much higher than the standard rate of 10%.
The following is the method that has proven to be the most successful in avoiding these fines: It is crucial that you do not roll over the assets of your SIMPLE IRA into any other sort of account other than another SIMPLE IRA before you have fulfilled the two-year period. If you do so, you will be penalized.
Take the Steps Necessary to Guarantee a Rollover That Is Tax-Free and You Can Save Money.
Check to see that the date is set. Once you believe that it has been two years since you made your first contribution to your SIMPLE IRA, it is important that you verify this information with the custodian of the plan. The two-year rule must be satisfied before any paperwork for a transfer may be started, and this must be done before any action can be taken. Consider the fact that various custodians will determine that time based on a variety of starting dates.
Take into consideration that the IRA only permits one rollover transaction per year.
You are only permitted one rollover of a non-taxable IRA into a traditional IRA per 12 months according to the requirements that have been laid forth by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In any given year, if you take more than one payout, the additional amount will be counted toward your personal income. There is a chance that the 10% additional tax for early withdrawals will be applied to this withdrawal.
You might want to give some thought to delaying the decision until the end of the next two years.
Regarding the timing of the rollover of your individual retirement account (IRA), do you have any concerns? If you want to make things as simple as possible, you should probably just leave the money where it is until the two years are up. This will keep things as uncomplicated as possible. Before beginning the process of rollover, you are required to verify with the administrators of your plan one more time to ensure that you have complied with the two-year limit on the number of times you can rollover your benefits.
