can u have more than 1 traditional ira acct.?

Question

i currently have a traditional ira with scottrade. and i also have a 401k with vanguard thru my company. i like vanguard. i will be laying my job soon. i would like to keep my 401k with vanguard but i dont trust my current company. they have move our previous 401k with nationwide to vanguard. what happen after i l eave the company and they move the 401k to some other firm like charles schwab, merilly lynch etc.

so my question is what is the best option for me? can i tell vanguard to move my 401k and convert it to a vanguard traditional ira acct.? or i have to move all my 401k vanguard money to my scottrade traditional ira acct.? basically can u have more than 1 traditional ira acct. with 2 different firm?

laying = leaving

Answer 1

You can have as many as you like. You can even move a portion of an IRA account from one sourse to another.

Answer 2

Yes, you can have more than one IRA, but the amount you can contribute each year stays the same no matter how many you have.
Vanguard is a good company, so your investment will probably do well there, and you can "rollover" your current Scottrade account into the Vanguard 401k - this might be a good idea if Vanguard offers the better rate of return.

I'm not sure what happens if your company switches to another firm after you leave. First check if their contribution to your account is fully vested (sometimes the company's contribution is only "vested" and belongs to you once you've worked a certain number of years). If you're fully vested, I would think your account would stay with Vanguard.

Once you leave the company, you won't be able to contribute to the account as a 401k - you might need to have Vanguard switch it to an IRA.

Check with your HR department, and call up Vanguard directly. They can give you the specific answers for your situation.

Answer 3

Yes you can have more than one Traditional IRA at the same or different firm. But you have two different types of IRA funds here. In your Traditional IRA (Contributory) you have after tax dollars and in your 401k you most likely have only pre tax dollars. If you plan on transferring these funds to another 401k at a new job you should have the funds transferred to a Traditional IRA (Rollover or Conduit) so that its easily transferred back to a 401k if needed.

Answer 4

There is no particular limit on the number of traditional IRA accounts you can have. The problem will be coordinating investment strategies in them, and then, later, making withdrawals from them. Having two traditional IRAs isn't a lot of trouble. Just make sure your overall investment strategy is well-diversified. But avoid having 6 or 8 or more, because the administrative hassles and investment coordination problems will drive you crazy. And it will get worse later when you have to start making withdrawals.

Answer 5

you can have more than one IRA. As others have mentioned, the limit as to how much you can contribute is the same no matter how many accounts you have, i.e. the limit is not per account, it's per year for all accounts combined.

Rolling a 401(k) into an IRA does not count toward the annual limit. That's money that's already been contributed to a tax advantaged plan, it's simply being moved from one account to another.

Answer 6

i dont know if you can convert a 401K into an IRA - but i dont think there are limits on the number of IRAs you can have, but there is a limit on how much you can contribute to an IRA each year - so you may not be able to move the entire 401k into one IRA

Answer 7

You can have as many as you want as long as you don't go over the annual contribution limits. (FYI.....Rollovers do not count as contributions.)

Personally, I have a Traditional IRA as well as 2 Roths.

Answer 8

yes you can.
you can have as many as you feel like keeping track of. you can have multiple IRA accounts with multiple firms or multiple IRA accounts with one firm.