As our economy begins to recover, more and more workers will be seeking new jobs. In fact, a recent survey has noted that two out of three employees want to find a new position. 那么当他们离开时，他们的401(k)账户会发生什么呢?
根据富达投资(Fidelity Investments)的说法，对许多人来说，什么都没有. 在最近的研究中, the company found more than 70 percent of the job hoppers left their retirement investments with their former employer’s plan. 那些坚持原来计划的人, 近60%的人对他们的计划的特点感到满意, while 27 percent said they just didn’t have the time or interest in taking action. Only 18 percent of the job changers planned to move the money to an IRA or their current employer’s plan. 近四分之一的受访者不确定他们要做什么.
It appears that the same inertia many employers encounter in encouraging employees to join a 401(k) applies to moving their retirement accounts when they leave for another position. All those inactive participants can be a drain on the administration of your pension plan – and if you have enough inactive accounts, they can even cause your small retirement plan to become large enough to require an ERISA audit.
当前雇员不再积极参与你的养老金计划时, it becomes easy to lose track of them and more difficult to communicate with them. 离职员工不愿意参加员工会议, 访问公司内部网或接收员工电子邮件. 如果他们从你记录上的最后一个已知地址搬走, you may be unable to reach them to communicate plan changes or investment options, 哪些可能导致404(c)合规问题.
And even though keeping inactive accounts can make an administrative nightmare for you, it’s also important to note that shedding small and inactive participant balances might not be something your financial advisor would encourage. 我们不是在说财务顾问的坏话, it’s just that they are compensated based on a percentage of the plan assets. 在财务上, they don’t have an incentive to encourage your company to shed inactive participants or remind you to review them.
Two best practices you can follow as your retirement plan’s fiduciary are to aggressively encourage departing employees to rollover their 401(k) balances and make the rollover process as easy to do as possible.
Provide rollover options to departing employees during the separation process. 清楚地传达参与者的选择, and organize the paperwork to make it easy for the separating employee to return it.
Auto-Enroll爱尔兰共和军
雇主可以为离职员工设置自动转出IRA账户. 带有自动翻转选项, 在离职时, plan participants receive a written notice informing them that their plan will be automatically rolled over into an IRA at a specific location unless they initiate the rollover process to a plan of their choice by a deadline.
保留401(k)计划
如果离职员工决定将余额保留在现有的401(k)计划中, 他们需要确保他们有所需的最低金额. 然而, it’s important to remind departing employees that they will no longer be able to make contributions to it, 因为他们不再是我们的雇员了. 换工作的人也有责任密切关注这个账户, 它应该更换记录人还是移动.
加入新的401(k)计划
If a departing employee takes their old 401(k) balance and moves it to a 401(k) at his or her new job, 不会有税收或罚款. Best of all, they keep all of their retirement money and can now add to it at their new job. 然而, they’ll want to ask the new employer if there is a waiting period before they can participate in the new employer’s plan. If so, they’ll want to let their money sit in the old plan or roll it into an IRA.
转到个人退休账户
If a job-changing employee transfers money from his or her old 401(k) into an IRA, 转让将不会产生税收或罚款, 他们也可以自行决定向IRA捐款. The departing employee will also have more investment choices available and fewer restrictions than with their 401(k) plan. 他或她也可以将401(k)的钱转入罗斯个人退休账户(Roth IRA), but will need to pay taxes on the money unless it is being rolled over after-tax earnings. 财务顾问可以帮助他们完成这个过程.
兑现
这种选择对跳槽者来说后果最为严重. 他们可以把401(k)养老金拿去兑现, 但如果他们全额支付, 他们必须为此支付20%的税, 如果年龄在59岁半以下，还要缴纳10%的罚款. 如果他们没有其他的退休计划, they now have no retirement money – which means they’ll have to start again from the beginning and they’ll be behind in saving.
If a former employee does take a full payout but later decides they shouldn’t have, the IRS allows 60 day from the time funds are withdrawn from a 401(k) to roll it over into an IRA. The individual would still pay taxes at the time he or she takes the money out of the 401(k), so they’ll be responsible for finding the cash to bring the contribution to their IRA up to the level of their 401(k) withdrawal. 然而, 当他们提交联邦纳税申报表时, they’ll get a credit for the taxes on the 401(k) and for the 10 percent penalty.
每年积极跟进不活跃的参与者. 通常当一个员工离开你的公司去另一个职位时, 这是一个混乱的时期，细节和文书工作可能会丢失或忘记. If you follow up by providing the same rollover paperwork to the former employee a year later, 他或她可能处于一个更好的位置来完成过渡. 例如, he or she may be eligible for the new employer’s 401(k) plan or better prepared to establish an IRA with a financial advisor.
Make time to review your company’s inactive 401(k) participants on a yearly basis and contact those with smaller balances. This can be an especially important practice for employers involved in a merger or acquisition, as well as those in industries that experience frequent turnover (such as retail or fast food industries) or that experienced a larger than normal number of layoffs due to the recession.
通过密切管理公司不活跃的401(k)计划参与者, 你会花更少的时间来管理那些不存在的参与者, lower per-participant fees and maintain a greater level of compliance with plan communication regulations.
注意: This content is accurate as of the date published above and is subject to change. Please seek professional advice before acting on any matter contained in this article.