Capitalize Review

Capitalize Ratings at a Glance

Capitalize’s core competency is a simple and free 401(k) or 403(b) rollover to an IRA. Because of its singular focus, the company and its team have become a major player in the world of retirement investing. In case you aren’t sure if you’ve forgotten an old 401(k), you can use the user-friendly Capitalize tool to find old 401(k) accounts.

To begin rolling over your existing retirement accounts, you can use Capitalize’ to locate your 401(k) provider, then select a destination IRA account. If you already have an IRA wth a financial institution, you can move your funds there and consolidate the accounts, or Capitalize can help you open an account with a brand-name IRA provider. From there, the Capitalize team takes care of the rest, communicating with your current account provider to finalize the exchange. 

Judging by customer feedback, access to reputable financial partners and recognition by media outlets, Capitalize offers a great service and has grown to be an industry leader in this space. The company’s user experience is excellent, providing a straightforward way to access your retirement funds after leaving your employer.

The value Capitalize brings to the table is its ability to make the rollover process easy for its customers. If you have ever tried to roll over a 401(k) account, you’ll understand the many steps necessary, the red tape to break through and the difficulty of getting a real person to help you through the transfer. Capitalize aims to change the old-fashioned way of switching to an IRA, and it does so with a team of experts who can help and advocate for your transfer. 

Combine this with the company’s easy access to any IRA provider you choose, including reputable financial institutions like Vanguard, Betterment, SoFi, E*TRADE and others, the service is an attractive option for those seeking to make a change. Because of Capitalize’s effectiveness in this previously unexplored sector, Capitalize has received numerous awards, including TIME Magazine naming the service one of the 100 Best Inventions of 2021. Capitalize has also earned top marks from Benzinga’s team thanks to its free and user-friendly functionality. 

When it comes to retirement investing, having a team of professionals standing by to assist can provide a major source of peace of mind. Capitalize offers the assistance of retirement professionals to personally help you move your account step-by-step. If you run into any issues along the way, Capitalize allows you to contact customer service using the following methods.

Via message: The Capitalize website features a robot assistant that can help you search the company’s comprehensive FAQ for answers to common questions. If you have a question that cannot be answered using the FAQ, you may also leave a question in your own words, and a representative will reach out with an answer directly. The platform also offers customer service through live chat during business hours and through e-mail to the customer service team at any time. 

When you begin with Capitalize, you’ll need to submit a bit of personal information, including financial information like the account number of your IRA that allows the company to roll over the full value of your accounts. This also includes your personal information, including your name, contact information and full current address. Capitalize offers comprehensive security and encryption services as soon as you begin your account application, meaning that your data is protected with some of the same tech as the world’s largest banks.

You can also rest with the peace of mind that comes with knowing Capitalize takes the security of each of its partners into account when choosing which IRA providers to work with. Partners like Vanguard, SoFi, E*TRADE and others employ top-of-the-line encryption to keep your account data secure. Though specific security standards will vary by company, every partner employs high-level measures to keep your information secure.  

For users, the minimum investment and pricing category has to be rated highly because Capitalize’s service is free to use. You might be wondering how this is possible — and while the company does offer a partnership program with a number of reputable IRA providers, the service is free and effective at its base level. In fact, it claims to be the only free service on the market today that offers 401(k) rollovers.

Capitalize is able to offer its service for free because of the relationship it has with large and reputable financial partners. When you begin the rollover process, Capitalize will ask you where you would like your current retirement savings to be transferred. If you already have a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA or both, you can input your account information and move your 401(k) savings to one of those accounts. 

If you don’t have an existing IRA, Capitalize will help you choose from a list of providers based on your preferences. It describes each provider with qualities like “set it and forget it” or “pick your own” providers to match your needs as an investor. If you need more information, there is a section of the web app dedicated to providing detailed insight into different providers, which makes it easy to pick the one for you.

Once you select a provider, Capitalize will process your request and begin the transfer. At that point, it may receive a referral fee from whichever provider you pick. This fee allows the company to keep the service free for its consumers, so the cost to use the service is passed on to your new IRA provider. Capitalize thoroughly vets each of the providers it partners with before choosing ones to feature through its program, and partners do not influence content on Capitalize’s website, regardless of partnership status. 

The numbers don’t lie when it comes to user experience, and Capitalize has great reviews and feedback for the services it offers. This indicates that the company has largely met its goal of keeping the complicated process of retirement simpler on the user experience end.

Capitalize’s goal is to make the process saving for retirement easier, and it’s starting with simplifying 401(k) rollovers. As a result, it estimates that users save over 17 hours per transaction by working with Capitalize’s experts to manage the rollover and use its pre-established relationships with financial partners to fast-track the transfers. These connections speed up the process of moving your funds, allowing you to get back to investing through your new IRA account. 

If you have a 403(b) account instead of, or in addition to, a 401(k), Capitalize can also help roll that account into an IRA, and team members have experience consolidating multiple retirement accounts into a single IRA as well. No matter which type of account you have, Capitalize is likely to have a solution. 

A big part of ensuring a positive experience for any financial service provider is the level of privacy and security they offer. Capitalize uses industry-leading 256-bit AES encryption, which is the same technology that the leading online banks use, to ensure all your personal data stays safe. Another reason the company’s user experience ranks so highly is its real-person customer service team made up of 401(k) rollover experts who are ready to assist clients through the transfer process.

Trustpilot’s reviews of the company and its process are outstanding. With over 1,100 reviews submitted, only 5 of them were lower than 4 stars. If you have ever checked out reviews for a product or service prior to using them, you know how rare such a positive ratio is. Many reviews mention how easy the process was and back up Capitalize’s claim that it handles the 401(k) rollover from start to finish and provides excellent customer support.

Capitalize vs. Competitors

While Capitalize is the only free 401(k) rollover account service on the market, it isn’t the sole way to take advantage of the tax and retirement benefits of an IRA. Depending on the company you work with, you may be able to roll your 401(k) account into an IRA or another 401(k) on your own, managing your own retirement from the start. 

Since it is the only free 401(k) rollover provider on the market right now, has excellent customer reviews and boasts a proven track record of success, Capitalize is the premier partner for people looking to take control of their retirement savings. If you are in the market for an easier way to move a 401(k) or 403(b) account after leaving a job, Capitalize is worth taking a look at. 

A big advantage, aside from the fact that it’s free and offers a high level of convenience from a team of experts, is the company’s relationship with some of the best IRA providers in the nation. You can use any IRA provider of your choice. The Capitalize platform makes it easy to do all aspects of a rollover - from finding your account to choosing a destination and then handling the transfer for you.

If you were exploring rollover options on your own or paying someone to help, you would still be shopping among many of the same partners that Capitalize helps access easily, for free. With human representatives standing by to help you finalize your account and a user-friendly experience, Capitalize is also a strong choice for those feeling intimidated by the process of transferring retirement funds. 

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