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Transfer outside accounts

You can move a brokerage account or IRA from another firm into alooola. You fill in a short form in the app, and we handle the paperwork with the other firm. Most transfers finish in five to seven business days.

Video: finding your current firm, picking the account types and submitting, 39 seconds, no sound. The steps below say the same thing.

Where do I start?​

  • iPhone: on Home, tap +, then Move Investments In.
  • Android: on Home, tap +, then External Account Transfers.
  • No alooola account yet: tap the Transfer investments card on Home.
  • While signing up: tap Yes, transfer them when the app asks.

How do I fill in the transfer?​

  1. Pick your current firm. Choose it from the list, or tap Other brokerage and type its name.
  2. Pick the account types. Tick every account you hold there: Individual, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 401k or 403b, or Joint Account. Match each one to what the account really is.
  3. Enter each account number. It's on your statement from the other firm. Copy it exactly. If you don't have it, tap I don't have this and we'll contact the firm.
  4. For a joint account, choose the co-owner. If they don't share a joint account with you here yet, tap Someone else and enter their name and email.
  5. Add another firm if you need to. Tap Add another brokerage.
  6. Submit. Check the summary, then tap Submit transfers. If we need to open a new account for you first, the button says Set up accounts & submit.
Where are your investments? A list of brokerages: Bank of America / Merrill Lynch, Betterment, Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, and more.
What type of accounts? Individual, Traditional IRA (selected, with an Account number field, I don't have this, and Employer-sponsored IRA), Roth IRA, 401k or 403b, and Joint Account.
Tick every account you hold there.

What do the labels on the summary mean?​

LabelWhat it means
Ready to transferNothing else is needed
We'll open thisWe'll open a matching alooola account for it
We'll contact youA 401(k) or employer-sponsored IRA. Our team will reach out
Waiting on co-ownerThe joint account's co-owner has to accept first

How do I follow a transfer?​

While a transfer is under way, Home shows a "pending" count. Tap it to see each transfer and its status, such as In progress, Processing, Waiting or On hold.

Once it arrives, the transfer appears in the account's activity. What you originally paid for each investment (the cost basis) can take a week or more to come through from the other firm.

What should I know before I start?​

  • Keep the old account open. If you close it first, there's nothing to transfer.
  • The whole account moves. To move only part of one, contact us before you submit.
  • Like goes to like. An IRA moves into an IRA of the same type. Moving a Traditional IRA into a Roth is a conversion, which is taxable, so talk to us and your tax adviser first.
  • Investments usually move as they are. Anything we can't hold is sold at the other firm, which can create a taxable gain or loss in a taxable account.
  • The other firm may charge a fee. That fee is theirs, not ours. It's often listed as an "ACAT" or transfer-out fee.

Questions before you submit? Email support@alooola.com or call 484-275-5525.