last job, 401K disposition question...

[davebarnes]

Leave it in 401k - small, but finite, probability that something could go catastrophically wrong and you lose all your money

Move it to your IRA - possible that you will not be getting the best possible return

[mathjak107]

Buu,You got that right. I sure would discourage them.

Most people have no idea what the headaches and ramifications are of dealing with a terminated plan are.

Why even chance it by leaving money with a company you are not even part of anymore if you have other options and don't have too.

Nothing is a problem until its a problem.

If i even keep one person from having their money frozen unknowingly than i did what i wanted to.

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Leave it in 401k - small, but finite, probability that something could go catastrophically wrong and you lose all your money

Move it to your IRA - possible that you will not be getting the best possible return

The odds are if you are picking funds blindly like most do in their 401k's they will never do any worse on their own blindly picking funds.

In fact i have the same funds in our fidelity 401k as i have in my ira. The expenses on the same funds in the ira are less.

[mathjak107]

if you think the chances of your money being frozen are remote AND DOES NOT HAPPEN TO THE AVERAGE PERSON guess again. our own moderator GOLFGAL has been going throught it , as this was a discussion a while back...

it is all to common unfortunately with all the cash flow difficulties companies have had.

was this ever resolved golfgal??????????????
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

" golfgal
Moderator

02/11/2012

We are still waiting for DH's old company to release his fully vested 401K...3 years later.....

I agree with you 100%. We may never see that money. We can't make changes to the funds (which are all in cash right now and we missed out on the growth in the stock market), we can't do anything with that account. We have been to the state, we have reported the company to FINRA, still no resolution.... "
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[shaker281]

I appreciate the insight into what can happen if a 401K is frozen. It may be an unlikely scenario for most, but it is new info to me.

[mathjak107]

it is new info to most people. most don't realize how long conforming to all the laws and rules can take until it happens.

[Skylark4]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Never, ever leave your money in your former employer's 401k.
Roll it into your IRA.

What if your former employer goes bankrupt?
What if they steal the money?
What if you forget about it?

The assets are not custodied by your employer. They have zero access to your money. However, you could totally forget about it and nobody would let you know!