How easy was it to transfer from your 401K to an IRA? What potential issues did this causes? Difficulties? Do you think it is worth
Brain dead easy. I called Schwab and told the guy what I wanted to do. He opened up an IRA Rollover account for me to receive the funds, and then he initiated a 3-way conference call to my 401K provider. Took about 5 minutes. I was on my 2nd margarita at the time, but I don't recall having to say much more than, "yeah, that's what I want to do."
There was one snag. The check they issued got lost in the mail. Yeah, what are the odds of that, eh? Like they couldn't lose my phone bill, or something else more mundane. No one's fault on either end though. I waited a couple weeks, called the provider, and a new check was issued, FBO my rollover account.
I walked the check into a nearby Schwab office, signed it, and that was that.