How do I switch 401(k) providers?

No, and it matters which one you do. A provider change is usually a conversion: the plan carries on, and only the company running it changes. Ending the plan is a termination, which is a different process with its own rules.

One of those rules catches employers who end a plan and start a new one. If you terminate a 401(k) and have another defined contribution plan at any point from the termination until 12 months after the old plan's assets are all paid out, the old plan can't pay out employees' deferrals on account of the termination, with limited exceptions. This is often called the successor plan rule. A conversion avoids the question.

ADP's employer guide lays them out in this order, and Human Interest's describes the same ground:

1. Read your current agreement and give notice. Check the notice period and any termination or offboarding fee, then sign the new provider's services agreement.
2. Review the plan design with the new provider: eligibility, match, automatic enrollment and the rest. A move is a natural time to change things, but you don't have to.
3. Move the assets and participant records from the old provider to the new one.
4. Set up the new investment lineup and decide how current investments carry over to it.
5. Tell your employees about the blackout period, in writing and in advance.
6. Restore access once the move is done, and help employees log in and find their accounts with the new provider.

ADP and Human Interest each publish 60 to 90 days as a common range, and both say timing varies. The blackout notice alone needs to reach employees at least 30 days before the pause starts, so it helps to plan backwards from the date you want the move done.

Those are the providers' published figures, not a promise for any particular plan. Ask both your current and your new provider for a written timeline.

A blackout notice. Near the end of the move there's a pause, called a blackout period, when employees can't change investments, take a loan or take money out. If it lasts more than three business days, Department of Labor rules require written notice at least 30 and no more than 60 days before it starts, with limited exceptions. The notice gives the reason, what's affected, the dates, and who to contact. Human Interest's guide notes that sending it is the plan sponsor's job.

A new login. When the blackout ends, their accounts are with the new provider, invested in the new lineup as the plan has set out. Help with logging in and finding their way around makes the change easier.

Hiring a provider doesn't hand over all of the job. The Department of Labor says the employer keeps some fiduciary responsibility for choosing a service provider and for keeping it. Providers must tell you what services they'll give your plan and all the compensation they'll receive, so ask for it in writing and compare it before you sign.

The same goes for us: alooola advises and coordinates, and that doesn't remove the employer's responsibilities. Who does which piece of work should be set out in each service agreement.

Contributions keep coming out of paychecks during the move, so your payroll needs to start sending them to the new provider at the right point. ADP's guide gives payroll the job of confirming contribution processing and the file feeds.

The deposit rule doesn't pause for a switch: the Department of Labor says employee contributions must reach the plan as soon as reasonably possible, and no later than the 15th business day of the month after payday.

It can. ADP's guide points to termination fees from the outgoing provider and setup fees from the new one. Your current agreement and fee disclosure will say what applies. If you're comparing what a new provider would cost, our pricing page sets out our fees beside published prices from two other providers.