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To Roll or Not to Roll By Charles A. Smith, MBA, CPA, CLU, ChFC

admin writes, "When starting a new job, it is important to decide what to do with the money you have saved in your previous employer’s 401(k) program. Is it more beneficial to roll over your old 401(k) into an IRA, as opposed to leaving the assets in the former employers 401(k) or rolling the assets to your new employer-sponsored plan? The answer: The benefits to roll to an IRA are substantial, however it depends upon your specific needs and requirements as to whether you should proceed with a rollover or not. One of the biggest benefits to rolling your assets to an IRA is control—you gain greater control over your retirement savings. If you roll your money into an IRA, you have greater freedom to select from a wide range of investments that may not have been available in your former employer’s 401(k) program. Even if you are happy with the investment choices currently offered, it is difficult to anticipate if your former employer could change plan providers and/or investments, or the current funds in your former employers plan begin to underperform their peers. If that happens, you would be stuck with a new set of investments, or a poor performing group of funds that you aren’t happy with. Additionally, if the investments in your 401(k) are publicly traded, you should be able to invest your self-directed IRA money in those same funds if you do rollover. "

Posted on Aug 31, 2007 17:49pm. (Read More... | 2771 bytes more)