Rollovers and Transfers

Movers and Shakers

One attractive feature of IRAs is their portability -- if you follow the rules, you can move your money from one IRA to another, and from one institution to another, without tax penalties. Why would you want to do this? Here are possible scenarios:

• You move to new area and want a local bank to house your IRA.
• You are dissatisfied with investment performance at your current financial institution.
• Your financial institution imposes new fees or other conditions you don't like.
• You need the money for a short time (60 days or less).

When moving money from one IRA to another you have a choice between a trustee-to-trustee transfer and a rollover. Keep in mind that these must be done:

Traditional IRA-to-Traditional IRA or Roth IRA-to-Roth IRA

You may not roll one type of IRA into another type. You may, however, do a conversion or reconversion, which will be discussed in the next chapter.