A question for HR people about liquidating a 401K

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

I put in paperwork about 3 weeks ago to have an old 401K liquidated and sent directly to my bank to be turned into an IRA CD.
As far as I know, this hasn't happened as of yet. Obviously, I stand to lose a lot more money now than if the request has been done expeditiously when first received. Are there any laws stating how long you have to comply with a request like this?

[madinmaryland]

1. Have you followed up with your HR people of the 401k plan administrator?

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. The regulation says that client requests must be handled "expediciously." However....

401(k)s are hemmed in with a lot of rules and regulations: remember, they are retirement investments and not ordinary investments, and most of the rules are set up to force the investor to keep the money in place until retirement. As such, it is likely that your request was invalid and so cannot be honored, or maybe additional paperwork is required (for example, your signature on a form where you acknowledge the high tax liability of taking money out) before anything can be done.

There are far too many variables for you to get any meaningful answer here. Your question would be better addressed to whomever handles your 401(k).

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

3. Find out from HR or check your SPD

to find out how frequently they make distributions. Not all plans make them every day - they may do them once a month or once a quarter. The SPD should tell you about the frequency of distributions.