401K withdrawal reporting to ESD - key facts I wish I knew sooner

This is super helpful information, thank you for sharing! I'm going through something similar with my retirement distribution. Can I ask how you eventually got through to an actual adjudicator? I've been waiting for 3 weeks now with no contact after getting a similar letter.

Honestly it took 5 weeks before an adjudicator called me. I tried calling ESD almost daily but kept getting the \

i went thru this exct same thing last yr!!! the esd website is usless for trying 2 explain these things. nobody ever sees ur messages! took me 8 weeks to get paid and i almost got evicted no joke

Same here but with pension distribution. ESD flagged my account for \

Thanks for sharing this information! As someone who regularly helps claimants navigate ESD's adjudication process, I can confirm everything you've mentioned is accurate. Let me add a few more details that might help others:\n\n1) When you receive ANY request for information from ESD with a deadline, always respond directly through the link in your eServices account under \

Thanks for the additional info! I wish I'd known about that Claimyr service - spent countless hours trying to get through on the phone. Regarding your second point - mine was definitely a one-time lump sum withdrawal, but ESD initially treated it like regular income until I finally got to speak with someone who understood the difference.

WAIT WAIT WAIT - did you have to pay the 401k withdrawal penalty??? I'm about to do this because I've been on unemployment for 4 months and running out of options. My concern is not just ESD but the 10% early withdrawal penalty. Did you have to deal with that? Also did ESD eventually approve your claim after sorting out the 401k issue?

Yes, I did have to pay the 10% penalty since I'm under 59½, but that's separate from the ESD issue. That's between you and the IRS (and state taxes). The ESD question was whether the withdrawal counts as

This system is COMPLETELY BROKEN by design! They make these processes intentionally confusing so people give up and don't collect the benefits they deserve. I had almost exactly the same experience last year with a severance payment issue. Sent FIFTEEN messages through their portal system and not ONE was answered until AFTER my issue was resolved through other means. \n\nTheir phone system is a joke too - I was told by an insider that they actually have a daily quota of calls they answer and once that's reached, everyone else just gets the \

i mean your not wrong but what choice do we have? gotta deal with the system we got. at least op is giving some real tips to help navigate it instead of just complaining

Quick question - did you have to provide any specific documentation to prove the 401k was a lump sum? My financial institution just called it a \

I submitted the distribution form from my retirement plan administrator that clearly showed it was a one-time full distribution (it had a box checked for \

I used Claimyr last month when I got stuck in adjudication over a job separation issue. It actually worked - got through to a real person in about 20 minutes after spending weeks trying on my own. Costs money but was worth it when I was desperate. Just sharing my experience since someone mentioned it above.

Was it difficult to use? I'm not very tech savvy and worried about giving my information to some random service.

anyone else notice esd seems to randomly flag accounts?? my sister and i both got laid off from same company but only MY account got flagged for \

YES! It's completely arbitrary. I think they have some kind of algorithm that randomly selects a certain percentage of claims for \

For responding to those ESD letters, I've found it helpful to both upload documents AND call in (if you can get through). The key is to make sure your responses are associated with the specific issue ID number on the notice. Each adjudication issue has a unique identifier, and if you don't reference it correctly, your response might not get matched up properly.

That's a great point about the issue ID number! The adjudicator mentioned that one of my uploads wasn't initially connected to my case because I hadn't referenced the specific issue number correctly. Documentation is definitely key throughout this whole process.