Empower 401(k) Rollover to IRA: Online Process, Timeline, and When to Stay (2026)

Empower is the largest 401(k) recordkeeper in the United States by number of participants — roughly 1 in 4 Americans with a workplace retirement plan has an account administered by Empower.¹ That means a large share of every job change and retirement rollover starts at an Empower account, whether the participant realizes it or not.

Many people don't recognize the Empower name. That's because the company assembled itself through a series of acquisitions. If you have an old 401(k) from a former employer that used Great-West Life, MassMutual Retirement, or Prudential Retirement as its recordkeeper, that plan is almost certainly now managed by Empower under the same account number. The name changed; the account did not.

This guide covers the specific mechanics of rolling over an Empower-administered 401(k) to an IRA: how to use the online portal, what to expect on timing, the advisory upsell you will encounter, and the four situations where keeping the plan is the better call.

Why your old 401(k) is probably Empower now

Between 2014 and 2022, Empower absorbed four major retirement platforms. If you are unsure who holds your old 401(k), the former recordkeeper name almost certainly maps to Empower:

If you log in to your old account and the URL contains empower-retirement.com or empower.com, or if your quarterly statements now arrive under the Empower logo, your plan has already migrated. Participant account numbers and plan terms carry over unchanged through these transitions.²

Three paths from an Empower 401(k)

Step-by-step: how to roll over your Empower 401(k) to an IRA

Step 1 — Open the IRA before you call Empower

Open a rollover IRA at your chosen custodian (Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, or a fee-only advisor's custodian) before initiating the rollover at Empower. You'll need the receiving IRA's account number and the custodian's mailing address to give Empower. Opening the account takes 10–15 minutes online and does not require a deposit. See best rollover IRA account for a fee comparison.

Step 2 — Log in and check the online portal

Go to empower.com and log in. Many Empower plans now support an online "Request a Distribution" or "Rollover" workflow under the "Manage" or "Withdrawals" section. If your plan has activated the online rollover tool, you can initiate the request entirely online without calling. If the option isn't visible — which happens for some smaller employer plans that haven't enabled self-service distributions — you'll need to call Empower at 800-338-4015 (general) or check your plan's specific contact number on your statement.³

Step 3 — Use the words "direct rollover"

Whether you use the online form or call, specify a direct rollover to your IRA custodian. These two words matter legally: a direct rollover means the check is made payable to your new custodian FBO (for benefit of) you, not to you personally. This prevents the mandatory 20% federal withholding that applies to indirect rollovers (IRC § 3405(c)). If Empower asks how you want the funds distributed, say "direct rollover to an IRA — I want the check payable to [custodian name] FBO [your name]."

Step 4 — Complete the paperwork and provide receiving account details

Empower will require: your receiving IRA account number, custodian name and mailing address, and the amount to roll over (full or partial). For large balances (typically over $250,000), some plans require a Medallion Signature Guarantee on the distribution request — plan for an extra week if your bank or credit union needs to provide one. See IRA rollover timeline guide for a full list of delay factors.

Step 5 — Monitor and confirm receipt

Empower typically issues payment within 5–7 business days of processing. Electronic ACH transfers reach the IRA within 1–3 additional business days; paper checks add 5–7 days of mail transit plus 3–5 days of receiving-custodian processing. Total elapsed time: 7–10 business days (electronic) or 14–21 business days (check).⁴ Log in to your new IRA and confirm the deposit. If the check has not arrived after 25 business days, call Empower to confirm it was issued and, if necessary, request a stop-payment and reissue.

Step 6 — Close the old Empower account (optional)

After a full rollover, the Empower account balance goes to $0 and the account is administratively closed by Empower. If you do a partial rollover, the remaining balance stays in the plan under the same investment elections. No action is required to close a $0 account — Empower handles this automatically.

The Empower Personal Strategy upsell — what to expect

Empower acquired Personal Capital in 2020 and rebranded the wealth management service as Empower Personal Strategy. When you log in to initiate a rollover or check your balance on a departing plan, you will almost certainly be shown offers to roll your balance into an Empower-managed account rather than transferring to an outside custodian.

Empower Personal Strategy charges a tiered advisory fee:⁵

Minimum to open: $100,000 in investible assets. This fee is in addition to underlying ETF and fund expense ratios (typically 0.05–0.15% for the index-based portfolios Empower uses).

That is not a scam — Empower Personal Strategy provides real portfolio management, financial planning access, and licensed advisors. But it is a structural conflict: a $500K rollover staying at Empower generates $4,450/year in advisory fees that a self-managed rollover IRA at Fidelity (FZROX, 0.00%) or Vanguard (VTI, 0.03%) does not. Over 20 years, the compounded cost difference on $500K at 7% gross return is substantial.

Compare this to a fee-only financial advisor who charges a flat project fee or hourly rate for rollover planning, then implements in a low-cost custodial account at your direction — no ongoing AUM percentage. See how to choose an IRA rollover advisor for the full framework.

The Empower stable value fund: a real reason to stay

Most 401(k) plans administered by Empower include a stable value fund — a capital-preservation option that earns a fixed credited rate backed by insurance contracts (called "book value accounting"). Empower offers several stable value fund vehicles depending on the plan; credited rates are set quarterly by the plan's insurance carrier and vary by plan.

In a rising-rate environment, stable value funds in employer plans often yield 3–5% with no duration risk and no credit risk, because the insurance wrapper guarantees book value regardless of bond market movements. A money market fund or high-yield savings account in a rollover IRA may yield a comparable nominal rate, but a true stable value fund eliminates the mark-to-market volatility that affects bond funds and most cash alternatives in an IRA.

If your Empower plan's stable value fund is currently paying a competitive rate — check the fund fact sheet on empower.com or your quarterly statement — that is a legitimate, quantifiable reason to leave at least a portion of your conservative allocation in the plan rather than rolling everything out immediately. The fund typically imposes a 90-day equity wash rule: you cannot move directly from stable value to another investment within the plan and simultaneously roll out to an IRA. Plan 90 days of transition time if you want to reposition within the plan first.

Fee comparison calculator

See whether your current Empower plan expenses justify staying, or whether rolling to a self-managed IRA creates a meaningful cost advantage over time.

When to keep the Empower 401(k) instead of rolling

Four situations make a strong case for leaving your balance in the Empower plan rather than rolling to an IRA:

1. You are between 55 and 59½ (Rule of 55)

If you separate from service at or after age 55, you can take penalty-free withdrawals from that employer's 401(k) under IRC § 72(t)(2)(A)(v) — no 10% early withdrawal penalty. This access disappears the moment you roll the balance to an IRA. The penalty exception applies only to the employer plan; an IRA has a different set of exceptions and Rule of 55 is not among them. If you need income before age 59½, keeping the balance in the Empower plan preserves this option. See leave-401k-vs-rollover decision guide for the full analysis.

2. Your plan has an attractive stable value fund

As described above, an Empower stable value fund paying a competitive guaranteed rate is a genuine asset unavailable in most IRA custodians. If the credited rate meaningfully exceeds available money market or short-term bond fund yields in your IRA, the conservative portion of your allocation may generate better risk-adjusted returns staying in the plan. Re-evaluate each quarter as rates reset.

3. You are actively doing backdoor Roth conversions

Rolling a pre-tax Empower 401(k) balance into a traditional IRA contaminates the IRA pool for the pro-rata rule. If your IRA currently has zero (or minimal) pre-tax balances and you are executing annual backdoor Roth contributions, rolling the Empower 401(k) into that IRA can dramatically increase your annual tax cost. The fix: roll to the new employer's plan (if it accepts incoming rollovers) or leave the balance in the Empower plan. See reverse rollover guide for the strategy of moving pre-tax IRA balances back to a 401(k) to clean up the pro-rata calculation.

4. You have employer stock with NUA potential

If your Empower 401(k) holds employer stock with a low cost basis, rolling all of it to an IRA permanently forfeits the Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) tax break under IRC § 402(e)(4). The NUA strategy requires a lump-sum distribution from the plan — not a rollover — and can convert ordinary-income tax on highly appreciated stock into long-term capital gains rates. This is a one-time election; once the stock is inside a rollover IRA it becomes ordinary income forever. See NUA employer stock guide and the NUA calculator to estimate whether splitting the rollover is worth it.

Tax rules for the Empower 401(k) rollover

• No income tax on a direct rollover. Empower sends the funds directly to the IRA custodian (or issues a check payable to the custodian FBO you). This is a direct rollover under IRC § 402(c) — no income tax is triggered, regardless of balance size or age.
• No early withdrawal penalty. Even if you are under 59½, a direct rollover to an IRA incurs no 10% penalty. The penalty applies to actual distributions, not to direct rollovers.
• Form 1099-R Code G. Empower will issue a Form 1099-R at year-end showing the rollover amount with Code G (direct rollover). Report it on your tax return; no tax is owed.
• Roth 401(k) portion. If your Empower plan contains Roth 401(k) contributions, those roll tax-free to a Roth IRA. Note that the Roth 401(k)'s 5-year clock does not carry over; the Roth IRA's own clock governs when earnings become tax-free. See Roth 401(k) to Roth IRA rollover guide.
• After-tax (non-Roth) basis. If your Empower plan allowed after-tax contributions beyond the Roth option, that basis can be split: after-tax amount rolls to a Roth IRA tax-free, earnings roll to a traditional IRA, under IRS Notice 2014-54. See after-tax 401(k) split rollover guide.
• IRMAA cliff warning. If you are converting any portion to Roth in the same year, a large conversion can push MAGI past the 2026 Medicare IRMAA Tier 1 threshold ($109,000 single / $218,000 MFJ), adding a Medicare Part B surcharge. Use the Roth conversion calculator to check your exposure before converting.

After the rollover: first steps

1. Update beneficiary designations immediately. Empower 401(k) beneficiary designations do not carry over to your IRA. Log in to the new IRA custodian's website and add primary and contingent beneficiaries the same day. The IRA passes outside your will via contract; the designation on file at the new custodian controls regardless of your estate plan. See IRA beneficiary designations guide.
2. Choose your investment allocation. Index funds in a rollover IRA typically cost 0.00–0.03% per year (FZROX, VTI, SCHB, SWTSX). For comparison, the average Empower plan fund lineup charges 0.40–0.80% in combined fund + administrative expenses for actively managed options. Use the fee calculator above to quantify the difference on your balance.
3. Evaluate a Roth conversion window. The year of a job change — before new employer income begins — is often the lowest-income tax year in a working career. If your marginal bracket drops temporarily to 12% or 22%, a partial Roth conversion of the rollover IRA can lock in lower taxes permanently. Model how much you can convert before hitting the next bracket or the IRMAA Tier 1 cliff at roth-conversion-calculator.
4. Track Form 8606 if you have after-tax basis. If the Empower plan had after-tax (non-Roth) contributions that rolled to a traditional IRA, that creates non-deductible IRA basis tracked on Form 8606. File 8606 in the year of the rollover and every year you take distributions from that IRA. See non-deductible IRA guide.

RMD sequencing if you are 73 or older

If you are at or past RMD age (73 for those born 1951–1959; 75 for those born in 1960 or later under SECURE 2.0 § 107), you must take your Required Minimum Distribution from the Empower plan before rolling the remaining balance. IRC § 408(d)(3)(E) bars rolling over RMD amounts — Empower will typically remind you of this during the distribution process, but the responsibility is ultimately yours. Rolling an RMD amount into an IRA makes it an excess contribution, triggering a 6% penalty. Take the RMD first, then initiate the rollover on the remaining balance. See IRA rollover RMD rules guide.

When to consult a fee-only advisor before rolling

Most straightforward Empower-to-IRA rollovers are low complexity — direct rollover, standard investment mix, no employer stock. Expert help is worth the time in these situations:

• Employer stock with NUA potential. One-time election that cannot be reversed once the stock is inside an IRA.
• Pro-rata contamination risk. If you're executing backdoor Roth contributions and already have a sizable pre-tax IRA balance, every dollar of Empower pre-tax money added to the IRA increases your annual backdoor Roth tax cost. Calculate this before rolling.
• Age 55–59½ with income needs. Quantify the value of Rule of 55 access vs. the cost of leaving assets in the plan before giving up that option permanently.
• Large Roth conversion opportunity. A $1M+ rollover IRA with 10+ years before RMDs has substantial Roth conversion math — the difference between planned and unplanned conversion strategies can be $200,000+ in lifetime after-tax wealth.