Solo 401k funds held at Wells Fargo... inactivity is a problem?

[David Orr]

I have a solo 401(k) and the funds are held in a business checking account in the trust's name at Wells Fargo.  Apparently Wells Fargo is the most popular bank to use for this.  

I just found out that if I don't make a transaction at least once every 60 days, they may make the account "dormant" for inactivity.  How do people deal with that issue with a 401(k) since only certain transactions are allowed?  It's been about 60 days, and I'm getting ready to write a check for an investment, but the check could get returned if they happen to make the account "dormant" just before it clears.  

In a similar issue, they already closed one of my two accounts (one is for Roth 401k funds and one is traditional) because it was inactive for a few months and had a zero balance.  They didn't even notify me, they just closed it and never told me.

[Bruce May]

Originally posted by @David Orr:

I have a solo 401(k) and the funds are held in a business checking account in the trust's name at Wells Fargo.  Apparently Wells Fargo is the most popular bank to use for this.  

I just found out that if I don't make a transaction at least once every 60 days, they may make the account "dormant" for inactivity.  How do people deal with that issue with a 401(k) since only certain transactions are allowed?  It's been about 60 days, and I'm getting ready to write a check for an investment, but the check could get returned if they happen to make the account "dormant" just before it clears.  

In a similar issue, they already closed one of my two accounts (one is for Roth 401k funds and one is traditional) because it was inactive for a few months and had a zero balance.  They didn't even notify me, they just closed it and never told me.

I had my Solo 401k at Wells Fargo until Jan 2016, then I moved it to Navy Federal Credit Union. NFCU set up a business account for me and they were familiar with these types of accounts. I pay a $1.00 monthly fee to allow mobil deposit and no other fees are charged.

The other option is to make a loan to yourself, which is allowed by your 401k (read your book about this) and then make monthly payments to your 401k and it will no longer be dormant.