"aimee" <aone[at]eartlink.net> wrote in message news:<wryWc.31888$9Y6.28472[at]newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net> ...
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If you terminate employment during or after the year in which you
attain the age of 55 years, you can take distributions from that
employer's 401(k) without being subject to either the SEPP or the 10%
tax penalty. If you meet the age requirement, check the rules of your
401(k) plan to see if your employer permits partial distributions.

Dave

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Yes!!

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not yet have earned any income. You might want to start, NOW, (rolling over
the entire amount into an IRA and then a bit at a time into a ROTH) so that the
tax bite may not be as great as when you roll over the entire amount at one
time.

You may withdraw your contributions from a ROTH, at any time, without having to
pay tax or penalty. However, you may not do the same with accumulations in
those accounts which do not yet qualify.



"Jack" - John H. Fisher - TaxService[at]aol.com
Philadelphia, Pa - Atlantic City, NJ - West Wildwood, NJ
My Newsgroups & Boards at: http://members.aol.com/TaxService/index.html

Where Ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise!=

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I'm curious as to why you would want to convert to a Roth if you're just
going to start taking contributions. The conversion is fully taxable in the
year of conversion, so you would owe tax on all $300k immediately. If you
left it in the Traditional you would be taxed as you took distributions,
spreading the tax liability over a period of years. To me, a Roth makes no
sense unless you plan to leave the money invested for a period of time, thus
taking tax free advantage of the anticipated growth.

Elizabeth

Suppose I have two different 401k accounts, both with about 300k in them. --
If I am thinking about retiring early, can I roll just one of the 401k
accounts into an IRA in order to set up a SEPP (Substantially Equal Periodic
Payments) withdrawal plan? Can I leave the other one totally alone and out
of the SEPP calculations?

Also, if I decide (at age 59 1/2) to roll one of the 401k accounts into a
traditional IRA and then into a Roth IRA, do I have to wait 5 years before
accessing the money in this "new" Roth account? -- Or can I access all of it
immediately without penalty? -- Or just the contributions?

Thanks,
Aimee