I was laid off just over a year ago from GE and want to combine my money from my ge 401k with the one from my new employer as my one year “protected status “ is over and I believe I will get charged fees on the ge 401k. I can’t get the money realeased as ge for that one thing has me as still an employee (even benefits.com I am now listed as an ex employee thou as of a few days ago) but I can’t get through to anyone on ge benefits line. Anyone successfully gotten their money moved ???
11 replies (most recent on top)
I left a couple of years ago and my new employer uses Fidelity to manage their 401K. I called Fidelity and they were able move everything from my GE RSP to my new Fidelity 401K very easily. I even had a current rediloan and they moved that, too. I didn't have to pay it off I just have to make a payment to my Fidelity each month instead of having it drawn from my pay like it was before I left.
Depending on timing, it can take up to 2 weeks (normally 1 week) for termination status updates to feed from the HR system to Fidelity. Call the GE 401(k) number with Fidelity. Let them know you are no longer an employee. Fidelity will send a formal request to the GE Benefits Department to update your employee status code to terminated. Before you hang up with the Fidelity representative, ask for the reference or tracking number. It's a combination of a date with a W and a few other digits but this is your proof of request and you can contact Fidelity and ask for updates based on this tracking number. Good luck.
Some of the ge mutual funds (which are crap btw) are proprietary so you will not be able to roll them over into an IRA. You will have to liquidate and move the cash to the new IRA. But then you can invest in something that might actually make money instead of lose it. But this gives you no chance to recoup your losses with the existing funds . As if that might happen.
I tried that with a form from another company and they said it’s locked and I need to work this out with ge. It’s as if a current employee were to try to do this.
They probably need your 401k to add to Immelt's retirement package.
Don’t call G.E. or NetBenefits. Call TDAmeritrade or Charles Scwab or your favorite brokerage and say you want to rollover your 401k. They will send you a form or may do online an authorization to create an account and fund it with rollover funds from GE 401k account. Easy.
My issue is I can’t get my money out period (moving to an ira would be the same )and nobody from ge benefits answers . Do you have a combination of codes that get someone to answer for this? Has anyone who was laid off succeeded in this?
Agree with previous recommendations.
Do not roll over into your new employer’s plan. Open an IRA of your own and shop around. Some offer incentives (free trades or cash) if you choose them.
Once you pick the brokerage for your new IRA, ask them to help. It is funny how incentives work- the company receiving the funds will bend over backwards, while Fidelity won’t even answer your call about how to take money out.
Good luck.
As the previous note mentioned, there are advantages to moving it to your own IRA. When I retired from GE last year, I moved my entire GE S&SP 401K (which was administered by Fidelity) in two parts to my own Fidelity IRA (the before-tax portion) and my own Fidelity Roth IRA (the after-tax portion) and Fidelity helped me with the whole process. It was very easy and painless. Fidelity offers a much, much wider selection of investment options than the GE S&SP ever did. If you don't want Fidelity, I'm sure other brokerage firms such as TD Ameritrade could help you do the same.
There are actually some advantages of moving it to an IRA instead of the new employer's 401K due to the hidden fees and poor options in many 401K plans.
Call a few different independent financial advisers and talk to them. If you are a member of a credit union or local bank which is not going to push products on you but just discuss options for you to decide on your own you might get a more unbiased input on the decision. Be careful of anyone who tries to push a product on you instead of just giving advice.
Here are a few links with discussion of options.
https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/retirement/what-to-do-with-an-old-401k
https://mic.com/articles/184335/should-i-roll-over-my-401k-to-an-ira-or-my-new-employers-retirement-plan-what-experts-say#.JqEX1GZNL
As always, everyone's situation is different but please seek advice from several independent financial advisers vs. thinking there is just one option.
call ge benefits