As graduate students, many of us do not have full time jobs or jobs we plan on sticking with after we receive our Masters Degrees. I for one, have gone through three jobs so far during my 2.5 years here in Boston. After recently leaving my second job--my sales associate position at Trader Joe's, I received paperwork regarding my 401 K and my plans of what, how, and when I plan on rolling it over.
Wh-wh-what? Rolling OVER? What does THAT mean?!
If you're like me, money and numbers are not your forte'. I am a creative writing student and well, my main concerns usually have to do with when an appropriate time to use a semicolon is versus a dash (though, I couldn't really tell you that one, either...).
I decided to be proactive about my finances, MY 401K and in a sense, my LIFE (getting that routine really HAS motivated me, eh?) I decided to call Fidelity Investments.
After speaking with a pleasant woman named Sheila for what totaled to about 7 minutes including the time I was kept on hold—I had a piece of paper with three steps etched out, my mind safely screwed on tight—and a good feeling about myself and my own capabilities of managing my money. See for yourself what Sheila taught me so that the next time you receive an envelope with information regarding your 401K—you’ll know exactly what to do.
1) Open an account with Fidelity Investments. Sheila did say it was simple—and boy was she right! Just be sure to choose “Rollover IRA” after you selected “open account”. After that, it should take about 10-15 minutes to complete.
2) Call the company managing your 401K. Businesses use separate companies to handle the 401K, so now it’s your job to contact them and let them know where to send that money.
3) The company you have called is gonna either send it to you as a check—or request additional information: Your full name and account number. This account number is what you received after opening that fidelity account.
Now all that’s left to do is either: wait for the check that’s being mailed to you—or wait for a phone call from your own special “Sheila” and you’re set. Welcome to living life as an adult. It’s sort of great, isn’t it?
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