---
title: "Transfer outside accounts"
description: "Move a brokerage account or IRA from another firm into alooola. Where to start, what to enter, and how long it takes."
url: https://support.alooola.com/account-transfers
docs_index: https://support.alooola.com/llms.txt
---

# Transfer outside accounts

> Move a brokerage account or IRA from another firm into alooola. Where to start, what to enter, and how long it takes.

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**.

## What do the labels on the summary mean?

| Label | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Ready to transfer** | Nothing else is needed |
| **We'll open this** | We'll open a matching alooola account for it |
| **We'll contact you** | A 401(k) or employer-sponsored IRA. Our team will reach out |
| **Waiting on co-owner** | The 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](/contact) 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](mailto:support@alooola.com) or call [484-275-5525](tel:+14842755525).