can 401K rollover be put in a Roth IRA??

[Guest quinn100]

Hi,

I have a question about my 401K rollover.

I quit my last job about 4 months ago and

I had to take my 401K out.. so what I did was

I put it in my existing Roth IRA account.

Is that legal?? I just read somewhere

that a 401K rollover can only be put in a traditional

IRA and then convert to a Roth IRA.

So for my case, what can I do to take my

401K money out of my Roth IRA and put it

in a Traditional IRA instead??

thanks a lot.

[Michael Devault]

Technically, a distribution from a 401(k) plan should go into a traditional IRA. Then, if you're eligible to convert it to a Roth IRA, you can do so. The reason is that while the rollover to a traditional IRA is not taxable, the conversion to the Roth IRA is.

I suggest that you check with the institution where you have your Roth IRA & tell them what has happened. They can either recharacterize the Roth as a traditional IRA or, if you really want the money in a Roth, they can likely take care of the matter internally so that proper reporting to the IRS is made as though you followed the correct procedures initially.

Hope this helps you. Good luck