What Happens to Your Simple IRA When You Terminate Employment?

There are a lot of questions when it comes to pension funds, what does this mean because different funds all have different rules and regulations that guide them. IRAs are simply no exception to this. There are a number of different actions and options that individuals have when they quit their jobs or are severed and the best possible way of doing things varies from person to person. However, the preservation of pension funds is important, and individuals need to understand their options.

What is a simple IRA?
An IRA Is simply a retirement plan that can be set up by an owner. It has a degree of favorability for the employer when contributing to the individual account of the employee. On the flip side, for employees, there are more restrictions and constraints to a Simple IRA account than a more traditional retirement account. However, the Simple IRA is the same as other investment accounts in that it is transferred after severing – the employer cannot get it back.

Two-year period
There is a period of two years from the start of a Simple IRA, in which if an employee withdraws any amount, large income tax penalties will be imposed on the account. According to the IRS, two years starting from the date the employee enrolled in the program.

Hover over options
After the termination of employment, there are several options for switching to a Simple IRA. The best possible way is to transfer it to a regular Roth IRA account or a Roth IRA account, which will prevent many tax penalties from coming from withdrawals. Another viable option is to find another job, set up a 401k plan for a new job, and transfer simple IRA funds to that account. The last option, the plan can always be cashed out for inspection.

Possible penalties
There are several penalties that may occur depending on the actions you take with the Simple IRA. The most common penalty is paying income tax for withdrawals. If this is done in the first two years, the more common 10 percent penalty becomes 20 percent. In most situations where the account has existed for more than two years and is not transferred, it will be 10 percent. There are also some retirement accounts that the Simple IRA cannot be transferred to without penalty, so always seek professional advice before making a final decision.

The result of hard work
In general, an individual will have a certain amount of time to take action with his account. Not taking action does not mean the loss of an account – the employer cannot misappropriate money from the Simple IRA because, legally, the accounts found to belong to the employee. However, after a period of inaction, they can cut your check, forcing you to in charge of the tax penalty on the account.