Can employer-sponsored plan benefits be rolled over into other types of retirement plans besides IRAs?
Yes. Eligible rollover distributions can be made to any “eligible retirement plan.” This means, in addition to an IRA (including an IRA annuity), another qualified plan, a 403(a) annuity plan, a 403(b) annuity contract, or certain governmental 457 plans. For example, this rule enables an employee who is switching jobs, who is entitled to a distribution from the prior employer’s 401(k) plan, to roll over his or her plan benefits to the new employer’s plan, whether it is a 401(k) or some other type of employer-sponsored plan. Although many employer-sponsored plans do accept such rollovers, note that an eligible retirement plan does not have to accept rollover distributions. So any employee who wants to move his or her 401(k) balance from an old employer to the new employer’s plan needs to make sure that the new employer’s plan accepts such rollovers. If it does not, then the employee would still be able to do an IRA Rollover.
