Hi everyone, I have a weird situation that has been bugging me, and I’m finally trying to clean up my accounts.
The Context: I have never lived in California and never worked in a grocery store or food service (or anything remotely similar).
The Event: Back in 2021, a check for ~$4,500 was deposited directly into my Schwab Roth IRA.
- The source was: "UFCW – Northern California Food Employers Joint Individual Account Trust Fund"
- I contacted Schwab at the time. They provided a copy of the check but said they just processed what they received.
- I called the Trust Fund but didn't know about it so gave me an email to contact and explain the situation
- I contacted them via email with a copy of the check to ask why they sent it. They never replied.
The Tax Form: I just checked my 2021 IRS Form 5498. Schwab correctly reported this money in Box 2 (Rollover Contributions), not Box 1. This means the system thinks this was a valid rollover from a pension plan into my Roth.
The Situation Now: The money has been sitting in my Roth IRA as cash for 4 years. I never invested it because I was afraid they would claw it back.
My Questions:
- I assume this is a Social Security Number typo by the sender (someone with a similar SSN to mine who actually worked there). How likely is it that they can still reverse this after 4 years?
- Since this went from a Pension (Pre-tax) to a Roth (Post-tax), do I have a hidden tax liability here that the IRS is going to flag eventually?
- At what point is it safe to actually invest this money?
Thanks for the help!
Received a random $4,500 "Rollover" into my Roth IRA 4 years ago from a job I never had. Still sitting there. Is it mine now?
byu/in_dire_straits99 inpersonalfinance
Posted by in_dire_straits99
4 Comments
This is wild lol, honestly after 4 years if the IRS hasn’t come knocking they probably never will. The tax thing though – if it was a pre-tax rollover to Roth you should’ve gotten a 1099-R and owed taxes on the conversion, so definitely check if you missed reporting that income in 2021
You said you were provided the check.
Is this real data or just an AI hallucination?
What does the TO line say on this check?
So there are a few things that play here. The short answer is, no it’s not yours. You actually need to return it to the state you’re in. I can’t remember if they qualifies as escheated property or lost property but it’s basically one of those and it technically should go to the state. What you should’ve done is denied the deposit and send the money to the state government, but who the fuck does that?
But to answer your question, no, the money is not technically yours, and it will never be, legally. But it definitely will be years for all intents and purposes, practically.
As someone else said, the person you need to worry about here is the IRS. Generally, they have a five year look back. And you’re almost there. The likelihood of them auditing you for $4500 is extremely small and the likelihood of them auditing you for that amount after five years has passed even smaller. So you’re probably pretty good And can just not worry about it.
Say nothing to no one. Live your life. This will never happen to you again. Be cautiously thankful. Don’t spend it and let it grow.