I just switched jobs about 3 weeks ago and have not done anythign with my 401k yet. I want to roll this over into a Roth IRA, I only have about $1,000 in my account since I opened it recently. Can I move this over without any penalties? How do I go about doing this? Do I need to contact my old job or can I do it on my own? I want to set up a Vanguard target retirement account. Thank you You can only do that if it was a Roth 401k. Contact Vanguard, and they will help you through the process. If it is a normal 401K, then put it into a Rollover IRA (at Vanguard, if that is your choice). For future contributions, you can just open up a Roth IRA. I have done this twice, I contacted the bank I do business with they help me fill out the papers from where the 401k is and the BIG thing You DO NOT want that check made out souly to you, you want it maade out to your bank for you. & if you have a good investor there they will invest it right. Right now my money is in a company that is as old as my husband and he is 47 No you can't move your money from a 401k into a ROTH IRA without penalty. You'll have to take a distribution (which triggers the 10% penalty) and then deposit the $800 (remember, they're going to withhold 20%) into the ROTH. Come tax time you'll owe that 10% penalty....which makes what you are attempting to do a losing proposition. Better to roll it over into a traditional ira, open up a seperate ROTH IRA and begin making monthly contributions to the ROTH | 