Unfortunately the process to move money from a 401k to an IRA (and moving money in general in he US) isn't great. In many instances the check is sent to the individual who then needs to send it to the receiving institution.
I've also read that upon receiving the money, brokerages don't always show it to the end user right away, using it on their end for a few days (and at scale, that matters).
Fair point regarding the 401k match - but are they issuing new stock to complete the match? I haven't looked at how a match with company stock is funded before, but intuitively I'd think they'd issue new stock, diluting existing stock a tiny bit, but keeping the same overall company valuation.
As originally presented I saw the issue with your wife's 401k and padding the stock price as part of the same issue.
I've also read that upon receiving the money, brokerages don't always show it to the end user right away, using it on their end for a few days (and at scale, that matters).
Fair point regarding the 401k match - but are they issuing new stock to complete the match? I haven't looked at how a match with company stock is funded before, but intuitively I'd think they'd issue new stock, diluting existing stock a tiny bit, but keeping the same overall company valuation.
As originally presented I saw the issue with your wife's 401k and padding the stock price as part of the same issue.