Question for Dave H, Mi or others

I am going to roll over an old 401k account to an Ameriprise account that I already have. But.....The info the Ameriprise guy told me is as follows:

Have the check made out to
"Ameriprise FBO David Smith"
And put my account number in the memo line.

Does this sound right to any of you fellas?
I sent an email back to the broker guy handling my account (his name is not David Smith) And asked him point blank....."Who is this David guy"

Does this sound correct?
Why would a personal name (not mine) be needed on a check that I putting in my account.

For the life of me I cannot see WHY you would ask such a question on a TRACTOR FORUM. I suppose you think BillyBob knows more than a local advisor or attorney?????
Sorry if I seem harsh or hostile, but for your own good, you should consult a LOCAL authority. One who knows your local/state laws, and is experienced in the matters you are dealing with. Nobody is more qualified than that to advise you, and to determine if what you are asked to do is correct.

There are a lot of guys on this site that are well educated. In life mostly, but I remember Dave H. in Michigan said that he did financial planning. (I should ask a fella that knows the business I guess huh?)

I might just ask an attorney if I wanted to front up $100 just to ask a question, and if he had time to see me. Everyone on here is friendly and is willing to help each other if they are skilled in the trade of what is being asked.

Now to keep this tractor related.....I am going to be changing the oil in my Deere tomorrow.

I'm not an expert and I'm not Dave in MI. I'm Randy in MI. and all I can do is tell you my experience. When I reyired , I rolled over my company 401 over to my bank sponsered IRA. There was no "check" as such and there had to be an "open" IRA established by myself/bank and transfer paperwork presented to my company/401 provider. It was done electronically as far as I know. No one should be verbally telling you how to have them make out a "check". Is the Ameriprise account an IRA or some kind of retirement account? If you put a 401 into anything else it's just like taking a lump sum disbursement subject to penalties and income tax. I would physically walk into Ameriprise and demand an explanation since apparently you already have money there and must have dealt with someone trustworthy at some time or another. Short answer...NO this isn't the way it is handled.

Dunno what happened to JimG but me thinks he got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. OK...for the record...I am not a financial planner. I am a CPA in private practice these 25 years. Randy has a good handle on it. Let's be sure first of all that you are rolling it over into an existing IRA and not a brokerage account. Given that you are doing this, then the best way to handle it is a fiduciary to fiduciary transfer. That is, have the broker for the 401K send it directly to Ameriprise into your account there. If they write you a check you have to deposit the check within 60 days. If you elect to receive the check there is 20% federal withholding on the check. When you deposit the check you may have to make up the 20% out of your own pocket unless you want to pay tax (and possibly a penalty depending on circumstances) on the tax withheld. This can get fairly confusing. I would recommend strongly that you have the 401K folks do a direct transfer. They must do this. One of the criteria for being a "qualified plan" in the eyes of the IRS is that you offer this option. If you need more info, just let me know. Post here or e-mail me. Pretty sure e-mail is open in my profile thru modern view. If not, let me know. HTH

Apparently not everyone is friendly.

Dave H, I've got nothing to add to the topic here, just
confirming that your email [b:e067997c51]is[/b:e067997c51] open on modern view.
Very nice of you to offer appropriate help.

The broker guy inserted the wrong name, (He emailed me back and said oops) This guy is a Buffoon. (yes, with a capital B too)

All good now.

thanks for the info.

I guess you and several others missed my point. Laws regarding retirement accounts vary from state to state, locality to locality, and company to company. What applies in Louisiana may not be appropriate in New York or California. When I had such questions, I asked LOCAL PROFESSIONALS for answers. For such a simple question, there was never a charge - again varies with locality. The LAST PLACE I would ever go to for advice is a totally unrelated forum coming from potentially thousands of miles away. Advice received that way (as John T always says) is worth exactly what you paid for it. Nothing!