401k
401k Information

Hewitt 401 K

Can you withdraw money from your 401(k) while you are still employed? Not everyone should; not everyone can. However, if you can, it may mean that you can effectively implement part of your retirement income plan before you retire.

If your 401(k) plan permits it, you can take an in-service withdrawal and redirect some of your 401(k) funds into another investment vehicle that offers you income guarantees.

The reasons why. A non-hardship withdrawal can provide you with early access to a portion of your retirement assets, freeing you to manage them as you wish. If the mix of funds in your 401(k) have taken a big hit lately, you might be wondering how some of those assets would do in other kinds of investments, especially those with less risk exposure.

This very question has led some people to withdraw assets from qualified retirement plans such as 401(k)s and direct them into non-qualified annuities that they own independently. A non-qualified annuity contract may be structured to provide tax-deferred growth for retirement, or immediate income. You aren't even required to take distributions at age 70½ (though your contributions aren't tax deductible.) The annuity may be fixed or variable. Another nice feature: non-qualified annuities do not have annual contribution limits. (There are annual contribution limits on qualified annuities held within IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans.)1

Today, you can find popular non-qualified annuity investments that will allow you to take advantage of stock market gains while protecting your principal against stock market losses. Many of them offer the option of guaranteed lifelong income payments. Some of these annuities may let you allocate assets across a mix of stocks, bonds and funds through subaccounts.2

With features like these, you may be interested in these kinds of investments if you are approaching retirement age.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. QUESTION:
    caterpillar 401 (k) Hewitt?

    • ANSWER:
      verb?

  2. QUESTION:
    Any experience with Liberty Tax Service, or Jackson Hewitt?
    I ask as I’m fed up with the outrageous fees H & R Block charges. I file simply, don’t own property, I rent, and I don’t have anything other than a small bank account and a 401-k, but I was charged 0! I can’t believe it. No, I don’t have a home computer, so obviously I don’t have Turbo Tax. Do you know of any service that prepare taxes for less without being scammed? I didn’t have time to shop around this year, but don’t plan on getting the shaft next year. I’d prepare them myself, but just want to make sure they’re being prepared correctly.

    thx.

    • ANSWER:
      The storefront tax prep mills are mostly a rip-off. They overcharge for the simple returns that they’re qualified for and screw up the more complex ones. Then they strong-arm you for refund anticipation loans or to have your fees withheld from your refund or try to push you into poorly performing IRA investments for your refund.

      With a simple return such as yours you can e-file for free through the IRS website from any computer on the planet. Just click on the Free E-File link on their home page.

  3. QUESTION:
    Filing amended return?
    I have to file a amended return because I did not file my 1099r form for withdrawl from 401 k—1st question jackson hewitt originally did the return for me ..can I do amended myself by printing from irs website or do they have to do? 2nd question–I have since received the amount i spent in childcare for the 2008 year can i also file on amended return? and is it all done on same 1040 x?

    • ANSWER:
      yes you can amend your own return,you aren’t required to let hewitt do it,and yes you can file the childcare on the same amended return as the 1099r.

  4. QUESTION:
    with drawal from my 401k?
    I with drew 6.00 from my 401 k november of 08 I have my w-2s to file my taxes but i still have not received my 1099 tax statement from my 401k carrier. Can i file my taxes useing the stub from from the with drawel that i got in november of last year? jackson hewitt does my taxes and i would really like to get them done now so i can get some things done around the house.
    376.00 IS THE AMOUNT I ASK FOR . 285.80 is what i received I already have my w2′s.
    There was .00 with held in fed tax and nc state tax there was 15.00 with held net that i received was 285.80

    • ANSWER:

  5. QUESTION:
    I did not know i had to file 1099-r form when I did my taxes and they are already sent to irs???
    I filed my taxes thru jackson hewitt, the lady said my money should be directly deposited between 02/03-02/13. Today I received from j p morgan a 1099-r form to be filed with my taxes. I came over hard times and did a withdrawl from my 401-k and I paid taxes on it then but had no clue it was something to be filed. Is this going to cause a delay? what should I do? I’m scared I really need my money and want to make this right……any suggestions………also when I go to irs wheres my refund they are saying should be received by 02/17….please help????
    both answers I received are so similar which leads me to belive i have faith so it won’t delay I will just have to pay 10% penalty which is not a problem do you know is the 10% penalty on the amount i withdrew or my ttl refund amt?

    • ANSWER:
      This form isn’t going to delay the refund. The IRS gets way to many returns to catch the mistake now. They will never catch the mistake now.

      However, you will receive a IRS notice telling you your return was wrong after they catch the mistake. At that point they will assess tax and tell you how much you owe.

      You can avoid the notice by simply filing a 1040X which is an amended return. Jackson Hewitt will be able to do it for you (unfortunately they will charge you). I would suggest getting the 1040X filed before you receive the refund so that way you will know how much additional tax you will owe and you can set that aside to send it with your 1040X.