How does a 401(k) rollover work at Fidelity?

By Kaz · Published 28 September 2026 · How this site checks figures

Summary

It depends on which side of the move Fidelity is on. If Fidelity runs your old workplace plan, the rollover can be done entirely inside NetBenefits, which Fidelity says needs "no additional paperwork." If the old plan is somewhere else and a Fidelity IRA is the destination, you open the IRA, ask the old provider to send the money, and deposit it, usually with a Fidelity Letter of Acceptance in hand.

Moving money into a Fidelity IRA

Open the rollover IRA. If the old plan held both pretax money and Roth money, Fidelity says you "might need to open a Roth IRA, too": the rollover IRA takes the pretax dollars and the Roth IRA takes the rest.
Contact the old 401(k) provider. It may ask for forms such as a Letter of Acceptance. Asked whether one is required, Fidelity answers, "Quite often, it is. But we will automatically generate one for you." If you'd like help on that call, Fidelity offers to have a rollover representative join if you phone 800-343-3548 first.
Get the money deposited. A check should be made payable to "Fidelity Management Trust Company (or FMTC), FBO [your name]," and it doesn't need to be endorsed. Ask the old provider to put your IRA account number on it. A wire for a direct rollover from an employer plan should carry the code DRC.

If the old plan cuts the check to you instead, Fidelity's deadline is the IRS one: deposit it within 60 days of receiving it "to avoid additional income taxes and a possible early withdrawal penalty." A check in your name can go in through mobile deposit in the Fidelity app.

When Fidelity is the old plan's recordkeeper

NetBenefits handles the whole thing and moves the money directly. What NetBenefits offers you, though, comes from your employer's plan rules, so a rollover option may not appear at all while you're still employed there; our piece on in-service rollovers explains when a plan lets money out early.

After it arrives

Fidelity's pages give no timeline for the whole move; they say transfers can stall and suggest asking, when you start, how long each step should take. Fidelity's rollover IRA page listed $0 account fees and a $0 minimum when checked on 13 October 2026; fund expenses and trading commissions are separate. The one step that doesn't happen by itself is investing. In Fidelity's words, "Unlike in a 401(k), your money isn't invested automatically when it's in an IRA."

Sources

Written by Kaz, an independent publisher.
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