Rollover took me forever - anyone else?

• •Just went through the whole 401k to Gold IRA transfer process and man, it felt like an eternity.
• •I’ve known for a while I wanted to get more of my eggs out of the volatile stock market and into something real.
• •Running a construction company, I see real value every day – steel, concrete, even the dirt – so the idea of owning actual gold just resonates.

Just went through the whole 401k to Gold IRA transfer process and man, it felt like an eternity. I’ve known for a while I wanted to get more of my eggs out of the volatile stock market and into something real. Running a construction company, I see real value every day – steel, concrete, even the dirt – so the idea of owning actual gold just resonates. I had about $350k sitting in a pretty standard 401k from some previous corporate gig before I went all-in on my own outfit.

My advisor kept telling me it would be straightforward, but I swear it felt like chasing paper for weeks. From initial contact with the Gold IRA company to getting the funds actually settled in physical gold in the vault, I think it was close to 6 weeks. Is that normal for a direct rollover? I was expecting something more like 2-3 weeks, tops. Maybe it’s just my usual Chicago impatience, but when you're talking about that kind of capital, every extra day felt like a lifetime of missed opportunity, or worse, exposure.

The whole process was mostly paperwork, which I get, but the communication between my old 401k administrator and the new custodian felt like a game of telephone. Had to make a few calls myself to really push things along. Now that it's done, I feel a lot better having that chunk diversified into something tangible. It's sitting there, solid, not flapping around with every news headline.

Anyone else have a similar experience with the timeline? Was yours faster or slower? Any tips for someone else considering this to potentially speed up the process if I ever do a second transfer?