401K rollover from Bear Stearns
Hello:
I am a recent employee of Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. Due to the collapse of Bear Stearns and the merger with JP Morgan Chase I am no longer employed.
I need to roll over my retirement plans that I held at Bear and I do not know what to do. Can you help.
Thank you,
Toni De Martini
[email protected]
Permalink Submitted by Al Fry on Fri, 2008-08-22 01:53
You should talk face-to-face with a financial sdvisor. One procedure is to open up an IRA at custodian of your choice and have them request a trustee-to-trustee transfer from the plan. One question first, do you have any highly appreciated stock in the plan? Probably not if it was Bear stock.
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Fri, 2008-08-22 02:43
There may also be the potential for employee “stock drop” litigation with respect to any employer stock you held. This could end up enhancing your remaining interest somewhat. However, there is no reason not to proceed with the transfer out of the plan, as that would not compromise your interest in the litigation in any way.
You should be automatically informed of any such litigation from the records maintained by the plan administrator, but if it were me I would still endeavor to closely follow developments that may affect me relative to the collapse of Bear.