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rtrtpjpc
May 30, 2007, 07:17 AM
My wife has 3 small 401k plans; the most recent (current) is with the Federal Govt.
She looks at these as life insurance should she die early.
As her beneficiary, do I get ALL the funds that are in each statement, or only the
Amount she has put in, or do I get an income stream? I've been told that each plan is
Different, and so the death benefits may be different. Thanks.
JC:confused:

ebaines
May 31, 2007, 04:19 PM
You get whatever is vested. Check the plan documentation to see what the vesting rules are with each plan. Whatever your wife puts and the earnings on it are automatically vested right away, but the company match and its earnings may not. Some plans have the company match vest once your service experience reaches a certain number of years, others do it on a sliding scale (for example, it could be that 20% vests after 3 years, another 20% each year thereafter until you are full vested at year 7).