Is anyone else having trouble getting their money from your IRA from Primerica transferred to another company?

Question

I have been trying for three years to move my money from Primerica to first a bank and now Edward Jones.

Primerica will not let go of it.

They keep coming up with reason why they can't release it.

Now it is that I have to have a "medallion" signature?

I have used all the proper documents from Jones and the banks and they keep sending them back with excuses.

Help!

Answer 1

Contact Dept. of Insurance in your state and file a complaint.  Insurance departments have retention departments, but 3 years appears to me to be abuse.

PS. This might not be the best time to be investing retirement funds in the stock market.  There are products out there that guarantee return on your principal, just for moving it.  One as much as 15% bonus and you can't lose your money.  Contact me if you want to know more.

Answer 2

I would call Edward Jones to get the proper paperwork for "IRA transfer" or an "account transfer" form. They should help you fill out the form. If they don't want to help, I would go look for another company. After all, there are many great financial companies who offer similar mutual funds.

Once Primerica receives the paperwork, they will release the money to Edward Jones.

In Primerica, when my client has an IRA at another company, I take a look at what they have in their IRA and try to find better performing investments than what they currently have. I'll compare their current investments to my proposed investments and if the client agrees to do the IRA transfer, I'll just fill out the form and have the client sign it. I'll have the client get the medallion signature from their bank.

I don't know how Edward Jones are treating you, but its their fault for not sending the right paperwork or not filling it out correctly. If you are filling it out, you are probably missing some information that is needed to do a transfer (such as the medallion signature).

What is a medallion signature? This is where a financial institution (commercial bank, savings bank, or broker dealer) is a member of Medallion Signature Guarantee Program. More than 7000 companies in US and Canada participates in this program. By participating in the program, financial institutions can guarantee customer signatures with the assurance that their guarantees will be immediately accepted for processing by transfer agents. Transfer agents can refuse to accept a signature guarantee from an institution that does not participate in the Medallion program or that is not recognized by the transfer agent. (from SEC.gov).

In other words, the company (such as your bank) will put a medallion signature onto the form to prove that you are real and not someone else who forge the signature.

Dealing with securities (investments) is highly regulated and without the proper paperwork and correct information on the form, Primerica can't release the money.

Even though you're not my client, may I ask why you want to move your IRA into another company? If you are not satisfied with your investments right now, I would contact the agent. Even though, the market is performing poorly right now, is it really affecting you financially? Unless you need your retirement money right now and you don't have alternative sources of income, then I would worry. But if you don't need your money right now, then I wouldn't worry.

I still continue to invest my money no matter how the market performs because I'm in it for a long term. Right now, the stock market is having a huge discount. It is a good time to invest while the price is low because you can buy bunch of shares. Eventually the stock market will rebound. If you look at the history of the stock market, the long term trend is upward growth.

Anyway, whatever you do is up to you. If you want to move it to Edward Jones, that's your decision. But don't stop investing because the stock market is performing poorly or pull out and then come back in when the market is doing good.