How do I roll my old 401(k) into a Robinhood IRA, and what does the match require?

By Kaz · Published 6 October 2026 · How this site checks figures

Summary

You ask the old plan for a direct rollover, paid by check to "Robinhood Securities FBO" your name and Robinhood IRA account number, and mailed to Robinhood's rollover post office box in Detroit. Robinhood takes rollovers in cash only, so the old plan sells your funds before the check is cut. On terms checked October 6, 2026, a rollover into a self-directed Robinhood IRA earns a 1% match on the whole amount, with no cap, and the match is taken back if the balance drops below the deposit plus the match within five years.

What goes on the check

The old plan, not Robinhood, cuts the check, so it needs these details from you. They come from Robinhood's transfers and rollovers page, checked October 6, 2026:

Item	What Robinhood asks for
Payee	"Robinhood Securities FBO" followed by your name, "IRA" and your Robinhood IRA account number
If the account number won't fit	Write it on the memo line
Mailing address	Robinhood Securities, Direct Rollovers, PO Box 772994, Detroit, MI 48277-2994
Form of the money	Cash. Robinhood "can currently only accept rollovers in cash"
After the check arrives	"2-4 business days" to show up in Robinhood's systems

The "FBO" wording is what keeps this a direct rollover. If the plan makes the check out to you instead, it is an indirect rollover: the plan withholds 20% for federal tax and you have 60 days to deposit the full amount, including the 20% you never received. The page on rollover checks made out "FBO" explains why the payee line matters so much.

Robinhood also offers to have Capitalize contact the old plan for you "at no additional cost." That saves you the phone call, but the check details above are still what the old plan needs.

Which Robinhood IRA to open

Robinhood's page says pretax 401(k) money goes to a traditional IRA and Roth money to a Roth IRA, and that a plan holding both generally needs both accounts. Robinhood lets one person hold up to four IRAs: a self-directed traditional, a self-directed Roth, a managed traditional and a managed Roth.

The choice between self-directed and managed affects the match. Robinhood's match FAQ, checked October 13, 2026, offers the 1% on "old 401(k) rollovers into self-directed IRAs," and says contributions into IRAs managed by Robinhood Strategies "do not currently get an IRA match." A rollover that lands in a managed IRA is outside the offer as written.

If your old plan also held after-tax contributions that aren't Roth, the earnings on them count as pretax. Splitting after-tax and pretax money between two IRAs covers how the IRS lets you route each part.

How the match is calculated

Once the rollover completes, Robinhood calculates the match on "the total rollover amount." Its own example is $1,000 on a $100,000 rollover. Robinhood says a 401(k) rollover usually takes two to four weeks from start to finish. The match counts as income earned inside the IRA, not as a contribution, and Robinhood says it won't send a 1099 for it.

You may see 2% quoted elsewhere. That was a Gold-member offer that ran from January 8 to April 30, 2026, and required Gold both when the deposit settled and for a year afterward. It has ended; the standard rate on rollovers is 1%, Gold or not.

Example: leaving in year three

Example: you roll $60,000 into a self-directed Robinhood IRA and receive a $600 match, so the account starts at $60,600. Three years later you transfer the whole IRA to another broker.

The balance falls below $60,600, so Robinhood charges its early match removal fee, which equals the match earned: $600.
Robinhood's fee schedule lists $100 for an outgoing ACATS transfer.

In this example, leaving costs $700, about 1.2% of the original $60,000 ($700 / $60,000 = 1.17%). Robinhood also says it "doesn't reimburse fees associated with rollovers," so whatever the old 401(k) charges to close your account comes on top. The transfer-out fees at ten brokers shows how Robinhood's $100 compares.

Whether the 1% is worth the five-year commitment depends on what the account costs you each year. The match against a lower expense ratio works out how small a yearly cost gap wipes out a 1% match over 3, 5, 10 and 25 years, and the fee calculator lets you try your own balance.

Before you call the old plan

Ask three things: whether the plan will mail the check to Robinhood or to your home address, whether it charges a distribution or closing fee, and how many business days it takes to sell your funds. If the plan will only mail to you, ask it to make the check out exactly as the payee line above, so the money still counts as a direct rollover. The current match terms are on Robinhood's IRA match FAQ.

Sources

Written by Kaz, an independent publisher.
Corrections: the contact form.