Financial institutions mess up the details all the time (no, I’m not talking about when they invest in derivatives, destroy the company, ask the rest of us to bail them out, and then pay their CEOs record salaries). I’m talking about the simple stuff. When you decide to move your retirement funds to a new institution, you have sixty days to “roll over” the money to a new IRA.
Start the rollover process right away! The IRS gives you sixty days, regardless of any blunders by the financial institution. By starting the process immediately, you give yourself some wiggle room to fix any problems and complete the rollover before the sixty days are up.