Door one · do it yourself

How to turn it on.

Every plan does this a little differently, but the shape is the same. Here is the Schwab PCRA version, from Schwab's own participant guides. Takes about fifteen minutes the first time.

1. Start in your plan, not at Schwab

Log into your 401(k) portal — the recordkeeper's site, where you see your balance. Look under investment options for brokerage, self-directed, or PCRA. Most plans put an "Enroll" or "Open account" link right there. Some plans send you to schwab.com/pcraopen instead; your portal will say. You'll need your plan login and, for the Schwab application, your Social Security number and date of birth.

2. Open the account

The application is online with an electronic signature. Schwab usually issues the account number instantly; a few plans take a business day before the first transfer is allowed. If your plan has both pre-tax and Roth money, some recordkeepers enroll each separately.

3. Move money in — from the plan side

You don't send money to Schwab. You go back to your plan portal and transfer from your core funds into the brokerage window, the same way you'd move money between funds. Plans set a minimum first transfer (commonly $1,000 to $2,500) and require a minimum to stay in the core funds. Some allow a transfer only once a week; some cap the window at a share of your balance. The money lands in the account's cash sweep within a couple of business days.

4. Invest

Once the cash is there, you trade at schwab.com, in the Schwab app, or by phone at 888-393-PCRA. Listed stocks and ETFs are commission-free online; thousands of mutual funds carry no transaction fee. Your plan may limit what the window can hold — a few plans allow mutual funds only — so read its brokerage-window rules once.

5. Moving money back

Sell to cash in the window, then transfer back to the core funds from the plan portal. Withdrawals and loans always come from the core side, not from the window.

What it costs

Schwab doesn't charge to open or keep a PCRA. Some plans add a small administrative fee, typically $25 to $100 a year, set by the plan. Trading costs are Schwab's published schedule. Nothing here is a fee to us.

What's never allowed

Margin, short sales, futures, currencies, private placements, physical metals and collectibles are out in every PCRA. Gold and commodity funds are usually fine. Employers can exclude more; the plan's window rules say what.

Built from Schwab's public PCRA participant materials. Your plan's own documents govern; if anything above differs from your plan, your plan is right. Not investment advice.

Stuck on step one?

Tell us your employer and what you saw in the portal. We'll find the page.