Mike Carroll wrote:
- quote -

Mike,
If it's any consolation, this is very common - 401k rollovers take time,
sometimes much longer than two months. And so you may put in the
paperwork and by the time the assets come out, your investments have
dropped a noticeable amount. Unfortunately these transfers aren't as
quick as say an IRA-to-IRA rollover.

But to answer your question, any gains & losses are yours - in a 401k
plan each participant has a separate account and to the extent the
investments in that account fluctuate in value, that's your risk.

Keep in mind that the loss might have happened anyway. The typical 401k
to IRA rollover doesn't sit in cash long, you reinvest the money quickly
when it hits the IRA - maybe immediately. So depending on the investment
mix in the old 401k and your plans for investing the IRA, you might not
be worse off than you would have been if the rollover happened the day
you put in the paperwork. It's just that the losses happened in the
401k instead of in your rollover IRA.

-Tad

- quote -

There are no rules, so the answer is you do. But if you can prove negligence on
the part of the administrator of the former employer's plan, you might be able
to sue. Not very likely.

Hi,

I filled out papers 2 months ago telling my former employer to
transfer my 401(k) directly to an IRA. It hasn't happened yet.

The papers I signed specified a dollar amount, based on figures from
the end of May.

Are there any rules about who is supposed to profit from the gains, or
eat the losses, if the amount in my account increases/decreases before
the employer gets around to executing the transfer? Should I expect
the dollar amount specified in the paperwork, regardless?

Thanks for any info/opinions.

Mike Carroll
Oro Valley, AZ