Roll IRA into Employer 401k, retire at 56, then take rule of 55?
I ask about a different angle on the many great discussion points of the much misunderstood Rule of 55.
Can an employee who left Company B at age 56 take a Rule of 55 withdrawal from Company B 401k and avoid penalties if withdrawal includes assets he rolled into said plan previously from an outside IRA that held funds originally from 401k at Company A?
I find ambiguity in the portability rules that allow the movement of the money and if once assets are in current employer 401k and you then leave under Rule of 55, is there any restriction of the penalty waiver determined by “source of funds”?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Tue, 2017-08-15 23:19
There is no restriction to this penalty exception. The only requirement is that the funds are distributed from the plan due to separation from service in the 55 year or later. It does not matter which other types of retirement plan funds were rolled into the 401k prior to separation. That said, you cannot roll IRA or 401k money into a 457 plan and then take a distribution pre age 59.5 of that rollover money and avoid the penalty, but the age 55 exception would apply to that money as well.