How to transfer money from 403B & 457 Plan to Vanguard IRA? I think it's an IRA Conversion Ladder?

[TopHatFox]

I'm sure you guys have done this, so how do I do it? It's maybe $15K in a 403b & $10K in a 457 from an old employer. I wanna transfer it to a Vanguard IRA (probably the traditional IRA since I actually have income this year), that way it's all in one spot, but from some cursory research, it looks like whatever I transfer from the 403B & 457 needs to be counted as gross income on my tax return for the year I make the transfer.

There also doesn't seem to be a way to directly transfer it from the 403b & 457 into the same mutual fund in a Vanguard IRA, so I think the money will be placed in a Vanguard holding account, and then I need to re-purchase the funds in the IRA. IOW, I sell from the 403B or 457 at a price, wait a time for the money to clear into the Vanguard holding account (maybe a week or two), and then re-purchase the funds in the Vanguard IRA at a new price.

[Jim]

I would like to know the answer here to. I have money in a Roth 457 that I'm considering moving as well.

[WFJ]

Open Rollover IRA in destination firm. Ask destination firm if they can trade asset held in transferring firm. If Yes, do an "in-kind" transfer. If No, sell assets in transferring firm and transfer all cash to destination firm. Many odd rules and regulations with these transfers within each state and within each firm. Longest one took about 6 months. Transfer from any IRA to rollover IRA is not a taxable event.

[bostonimproper]

It’s called a rollover. If you transfer from a traditional 403B or 457 to Trad IRA, it does not count as income, it would if transferring to a Roth. You’ll get issued a 1099-R which you’ll need to put into your tax form, but it won’t increase the amount you pay.

Google “Vanguard rollover” and follow the steps on their site.