How do I roll over a non-employer Roth IRA to a different Roth?

[ak907]

I want to roll my existing Roth IRA over to a Vanguard Roth, but I am not sure how to do so. Looking online at Vanguard as far as I can tell the only way to open a Roth account is with money from another Vanguard account for with money from a checking account. Problem two, as far as I can tell the only way to get the money out of my current Roth IRA without tax is by selecting a rollover distribution which requires a letter from my employer, who is receiving the rollover (no what I want to do). Any ideas?

[matchewed]

https://investor.vanguard.com/what-we-offer/transfer-ira-to-vanguard

You're looking for a transfer not a rollover.

[Bruno]

I want to roll my existing Roth IRA over to a Vanguard Roth, but I am not sure how to do so. Looking online at Vanguard as far as I can tell the only way to open a Roth account is with money from another Vanguard account for with money from a checking account. Problem two, as far as I can tell the only way to get the money out of my current Roth IRA without tax is by selecting a rollover distribution which requires a letter from my employer, who is receiving the rollover (no what I want to do). Any ideas?

You should do a trustee to trustee transfer of your Roth IRA. Contact your current provider and ask what you need to do. They may charge a fee to close your account. Then consult the vanguard link in the post above. Good Luck.

[ak907]

Thanks, question 2, would this transfer reset the 5 year clock on my account creation date? How are contributions vs earnings tracked during/after such a transfer, such that I can withdraw them tax free once I reach FIRE?

[nereo]

I want to roll my existing Roth IRA over to a Vanguard Roth, but I am not sure how to do so. Looking online at Vanguard as far as I can tell the only way to open a Roth account is with money from another Vanguard account for with money from a checking account.

I just did this last week.
What you are looking to do is a transfer.  Vanguard has a "concierge service" that will help you with doing exactly this, and it's free for all its clients.  Call (800) 841-7999 and tell them you want to transfer funds from an external ROTH IRA to a Vanguard Roth IRA.  They'll ask you a few questions and prepare all the paperwork for you to sign.  All you have to do is provide some basic info, read and sign the forms and then mail them back.  Everything else they will take care of.
Because it's a transfer, there is no tax implications.  At the end of the fiscal year they will send you the documents (forget the form number) that shows it was a direct transfer of funds.  Again, no penalties or tax implications.

[Frankies Girl]

No, it shouldn't reset. It's an "aged" Roth, so they should see it that way (but confirm with Vanguard). I transferred several accounts from several different financial groups early this year, and all of them were considered the same. At the worst, you'd keep the paperwork showing the contribution dates in the old account and a copy of the transfer into the new if they can't confirm.

I transferred to Fidelity, and what they had me do was open an account (same type of account as what I was transferring), then they had an account number to work with on their end to transfer the funds into. Then I filled in the paperwork, turned it in to them and they handled the transfer after that.

[the fixer]

Thanks, question 2, would this transfer reset the 5 year clock on my account creation date? How are contributions vs earnings tracked during/after such a transfer, such that I can withdraw them tax free once I reach FIRE?

Transferring the Roth should not matter for any of this stuff in the eyes of the IRS, but that doesn't mean the new trustee won't mess it up. You should be keeping your own records so you can show when you opened the Roth and when contributions/rollovers/conversions were made. Especially your 1099R's and 5498's.

[rubybeth]

https://investor.vanguard.com/what-we-offer/transfer-ira-to-vanguard

You're looking for a transfer not a rollover.

Yep, we just did this for my DH's IRA. It took a few weeks to make the transfer, but it was pretty simple paperwork to fill out online and then print to sign and mail off to them.