Jessica WongSat, May 31, 2025, 1:44 PM 5 min readDylan Handy did everything right — or so he thought.Two years ago, when he was 33, Handy tried to roll over his $114,000 401(k) after switching jobs. Instead of a secure digital transfer, Paychex sent paper checks.Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's howI'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast)Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10)Unfortunately for Handy, those checks were intercepted and fraudulently cashed.“This outdated and insecure method remains standard practice in the retirement industry,” Handy told The New York Times. The kicker? Handy wasn’t even told electronic transfer was an option. And more importantly, he may now owe taxes on a stolen account.So why are retirement plan administrators still using physical checks? And how can you protect your money and avoid ending up in a situation similar to Handy’s?A 2024 survey by Capitalize revealed just how many people still deal with paper checks during rollovers — a whopping 43%.Americans are running out of patience. More than 80% of savers say rolling over a 401(k) should be as simple as making a bank transfer. But for those stuck with the manual process, it often means phone calls, long wait times and a lot of uncertainty.So why are plan administrators holding on to this outdated method?Physical checks persist because of legacy systems, regulatory concerns and a lack of standardized digital options.In Hardy’s case, he’s now in federal court suing Paychex after months of getting nowhere with banks and no reimbursement for the bulk of his lost savings. His lawyer argues Paychex is responsible.Paper checks in 401(k) rollovers expose savers to serious risks, including:Fraud and theft: Physical checks are easier to intercept, alter or cash without authorization.Delays and inconvenience: Mailing checks, waiting for them to clear and making sure they reach the right hands can take weeks — sometimes months. Capitalize found that 42% of savers experienced rollovers that took two months or more.Lack of transparency: Tracking paper checks and resolving problems can be a nightmare. In fraud cases, figuring out who’s responsible and recovering money is often a complex, drawn-out process.Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do itWhile protections like the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) exist, they are limited.Terms and Privacy PolicyPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore InfoS&P 5005,911.69 -0.48 (-0.01%)Dow 3042,270.07 +54.37 (+0.13%)Nasdaq19,113.77 -62.13 (-0.32%)Russell 20002,066.29 -8.49 (-0.41%)VIX18.57 -0.61 (-3.18%)Gold3,313.10 -30.80 (-0.92%)PortfolioSign in to access your portfolioSign inTop gainersRGC Regencell Bioscience Holdings Limited 877.00 +136.02 (+18.36%)PONY Pony AI Inc. 19.26 +2.11 (+12.30%)ULTA Ulta Beauty, Inc. 471.46 +49.67 (+11.78%)MP MP Materials Corp. 21.79 +2.02 (+10.22%)ZS Zscaler, Inc. 275.70 +24.59 (+9.79%)Top losersSMMT Summit Therapeutics Inc. 18.22 -7.99 (-30.50%)GAP The Gap, Inc. 22.31 -5.64 (-20.18%)REGN Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 490.28 -115.11 (-19.01%)AMBA Ambarella, Inc. 52.64 -9.36 (-15.10%)COO The Cooper Companies, Inc. 68.28 -11.68 (-14.61%)Most activeNVDA NVIDIA Corporation 135.13 -4.06 (-2.92%)LCID Lucid Group, Inc. 2.2300 -0.1800 (-7.47%)PLTR Palantir Technologies Inc. 131.78 +9.46 (+7.73%)F Ford Motor Company 10.38 +0.16 (+1.57%)TSLA Tesla, Inc. 346.46 -11.97 (-3.34%)Earnings eventsTrending tickersBTC-USD Bitcoin USD 104,596.89 -957.61 (-0.91%)CLF Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. 5.83 -0.07 (-1.19%)XRP-USD XRP USD 2.17 -0.01 (-0.44%)X United States Steel Corporation 53.82 +0.59 (+1.11%)ETH-USD Ethereum USD 2,537.24 -61.25 (-2.36%)Top economic eventsPowered by Money.com - Yahoo may earn commission from the links above.