The Milliman rollover form is the document you complete to move vested 401(k) or pension assets out of a Milliman-administered plan and into an IRA or a new employer’s qualified plan. The single decision that matters most on the form is whether you request a direct rollover (trustee-to-trustee) or an indirect rollover (check payable to you), because that choice controls whether 20% of your balance is withheld for federal tax before you ever see the money.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3405 – Special Rules for Pensions, Annuities, and Certain Other Deferred Income Everything else on the form is identification and routing, and getting those details right is what separates a clean transfer from weeks of back-and-forth.
Information to Gather Before You Open the Form
Pull these together first. A form that’s missing a plan number or carries a wrong digit in an account number is the most common reason rollovers stall.
- Your Social Security number, date of birth, and Milliman Participant ID. The Participant ID lives in your MillimanBenefits profile; your HR department can also provide it.
- The exact employer plan name and plan number as they appear on your benefit statement.
- The receiving institution’s legal name, federal Employer Identification Number (EIN), mailing address for a check or wire, and your new account number. Call the new custodian and confirm these character by character, including exactly how they want the check’s payee line to read.
If your account holds employer stock, note the share count and current market value before you touch the form. Rolling those shares into an IRA may not be your best move, which is covered below.
Direct Rollover vs. Indirect Rollover
A direct rollover sends the funds straight from Milliman’s trustee to the new plan or IRA trustee. The check is made payable to the new institution “for the benefit of” (FBO) you. No federal tax is withheld, and there is no deadline for you to meet.2Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 413, Rollovers From Retirement Plans For most people this is the right path.
An indirect rollover puts the money in your hands first. Milliman must withhold 20% of the taxable portion for federal income tax before cutting your check.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3405 – Special Rules for Pensions, Annuities, and Certain Other Deferred Income You then have 60 days from the date you receive the distribution to deposit the full original amount, including the 20% that was withheld, into a qualified retirement account.3Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plans FAQs Relating to Waivers of the 60-Day Rollover Requirement That means replacing the withheld 20% out of your own pocket to make the account whole. If you only deposit the 80% you received, the withheld portion becomes a taxable distribution and may trigger an additional 10% early withdrawal penalty if you are under 59½.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 557, Additional Tax on Early Distributions From Traditional and Roth IRAs
Pick the indirect route only if you have a specific reason to hold the cash briefly and you’re confident you can redeposit the full amount in time. Otherwise, mark direct.
Filling Out the Form Section by Section
Personal and Plan Information
Enter your full legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, and Milliman Participant ID at the top. Below that, write the employer plan name and plan number exactly as they appear on your benefit statement. A mismatched plan number sends the form back.
Distribution Type
Choose a full distribution of the entire balance or a partial distribution of a specific dollar amount. If partial, write the exact figure. Not every plan allows partial distributions, so check your summary plan description or ask HR before you assume that option is open.
Rollover Destination
Mark direct rollover (trustee-to-trustee) or indirect, then enter the receiving institution’s legal name, EIN, mailing address, and your new account number. For a direct rollover, the check will be made payable to the new trustee FBO your name. Confirm the exact payee wording with the receiving institution first, because some custodians reject checks over minor variations.
Tax Withholding
If any portion of the distribution comes to you as cash rather than rolling over, the form includes a withholding section tied to IRS Form W-4R. The default rate on nonperiodic payments is 10%, and you can elect any rate from 0% to 100%.5Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4R, Withholding Certificate for Nonperiodic Payments and Eligible Rollover Distributions For an indirect rollover, the mandatory 20% withholding applies no matter what you put on the W-4R; that rate is set by statute and cannot be reduced.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3405 – Special Rules for Pensions, Annuities, and Certain Other Deferred Income
Spousal Consent If You’re Married
If you’re married and your plan is subject to qualified joint and survivor annuity (QJSA) rules, your spouse generally must consent in writing before Milliman can process a lump-sum rollover. The QJSA is the default payment form in many defined benefit plans and some 401(k) plans, providing a lifetime annuity to you and a survivor annuity to your spouse. Choosing a rollover waives that annuity, so your spouse signs off.6Internal Revenue Service. Fixing Common Plan Mistakes – Failure to Obtain Spousal Consent
The signature must be witnessed by the plan administrator or a notary public.7eCFR. 26 CFR 1.401(a)-20 – Requirements of Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity and Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity If the lump-sum value of your benefit is $5,000 or less, spousal consent isn’t required.6Internal Revenue Service. Fixing Common Plan Mistakes – Failure to Obtain Spousal Consent Handle this before you submit, not after Milliman sends the form back.
How to Submit the Form
Milliman accepts rollover forms through several channels. The fastest is usually the Upload Document feature in the secure MillimanBenefits portal at millimanbenefits.com.8Milliman. Millimanbenefits You can also fax to the distribution department number on the form’s instruction page or mail a physical copy to the processing address listed there. If you mail it, use certified mail or a trackable service.
Some plans require a Medallion Signature Guarantee, a stamp from a participating bank, credit union, or broker-dealer that verifies your identity and assumes liability for forged signatures.9Investor.gov. Medallion Signature Guarantees: Preventing the Unauthorized Transfer of Securities A notary stamp is not a substitute. Not every bank branch keeps the Medallion stamp on hand, so call ahead before you go in. Certain plans also require your employer’s plan administrator to sign before Milliman will accept the form, so check the instructions for that requirement too.
What to Expect After You Submit
Expect an initial review of roughly three to five business days once Milliman receives the form. During that window the record-keeper verifies vesting, matches your rollover instructions against the receiving institution’s requirements, and checks for spousal consent or plan administrator signatures. Incomplete or mismatched information is the main reason reviews take longer; a wrong plan number or missing signature can add a week or more.
After approval, the funds are liquidated. If a physical check goes out by mail, allow another seven to ten business days for delivery. Electronic transfers post faster but still depend on the receiving institution; some custodians credit rollovers within two business days, others hold funds up to a week. You’ll receive a confirmation statement through the portal or by mail once the transaction settles. Save it with your tax records for the year, because that confirmation is your proof to the IRS that the money moved between qualified accounts.
Monitor the status through the portal during the transition. If it stays pending for more than two weeks, call Milliman’s distribution department to find out whether more documentation is needed.
Situations That Need Extra Care Before You Submit
Outstanding Plan Loan
If you borrowed from your 401(k) and still owe a balance, that loan complicates the rollover. When you leave your employer or the plan terminates, the unpaid balance is typically offset against your account, reducing what’s available to roll over, and the offset is treated as a distribution.10Internal Revenue Service. Plan Loan Offsets
If the offset qualifies as a Qualified Plan Loan Offset, meaning it happened because you separated from your employer or the plan terminated, you get an extended deadline. Instead of the usual 60 days, you have until your tax-return due date, including extensions, for the year the offset occurred. To complete that rollover, you contribute cash equal to the offset into your new IRA or plan. The offset will show on Form 1099-R with Code M in Box 7.10Internal Revenue Service. Plan Loan Offsets If you do nothing, the full offset becomes taxable income for the year, plus the 10% early withdrawal penalty if you’re under 59½. Paying off the loan before you initiate the rollover is the cleanest option.
You’re of RMD Age
If required minimum distributions apply to you, you must take this year’s RMD before rolling over the rest. RMDs are specifically excluded from the definition of an eligible rollover distribution.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 402 – Taxability of Beneficiary of Employees Trust Under current law, the RMD start age is 73 for individuals born between 1951 and 1959, and 75 for those born after 1959.12Congressional Research Service. Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Rules for Original Owners Rolling over an amount that should have been an RMD creates an excess contribution in the receiving account that you’ll have to pull back out.
Designated Roth Money
If your Milliman-managed plan holds designated Roth contributions, you can roll them into a Roth IRA. One wrinkle matters: time in the employer’s Roth 401(k) does not count toward the Roth IRA’s five-year holding period for tax-free distributions. Your Roth IRA clock runs from the first contribution you ever made to any Roth IRA.13Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plans FAQs on Designated Roth Accounts If you’ve never contributed to a Roth IRA, that clock starts in the year of the rollover. Opening a Roth IRA and funding it with even a small contribution before you initiate the rollover starts the clock sooner.
Employer Stock in the Account
If your account holds employer stock, stop before you check the box to roll over everything. Under the net unrealized appreciation (NUA) rules, if you take a lump-sum distribution from the plan and have the employer stock distributed in kind to a taxable brokerage account instead of rolling it over, you pay ordinary income tax only on the stock’s original cost basis. The appreciation is taxed later at long-term capital gains rates when you sell, regardless of how long you held the shares after distribution.14Internal Revenue Service. Net Unrealized Appreciation in Employer Securities, Notice 98-24
You lose the NUA benefit entirely if you roll the stock into an IRA and sell it there, because IRA distributions always come out as ordinary income. The strategy requires a lump-sum distribution of all plan assets, though you can roll over the non-stock portion while taking the stock in kind. If the stock has appreciated substantially, talk to a tax advisor before completing the rollover form.