What do I do with a 401k from a job I’m leaving to go back to school?
Donkeyshane asked:
I’m already planning on opening an IRA at the maximum amount. So what do I do with my 401k if I’m leaving my job to go back to school and won’t be able to roll it over to another employers plan?
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I’m already planning on opening an IRA at the maximum amount. So what do I do with my 401k if I’m leaving my job to go back to school and won’t be able to roll it over to another employers plan?
February 18th, 2009 at 8:28 am
roll it to a roth IRA
February 18th, 2009 at 10:42 am
You can open a personal IRA plan to roll it over into with any broker,money manager, bank or investment house.
February 21st, 2009 at 11:41 am
If they let you, just leave it there.
February 24th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
1. Roll the 401K to an IRA (you can’t go directly to a Roth).
2. Wait until you are in school to evaluate whether you want to leave it alone, roll it to a Roth (I love putting the money in at a high tax bracket, then rolling it and paying tax if I’m in a lower bracket), or pulling the money out of the IRA for school (you’d pay the income tax, but could probably avoid the 10% penalty).
February 27th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
You can rollover the 401k funds into a separate IRA. In fact, consider opening a Roth IRA with the funds you were thinking about using, and then use the 401k to rollover into another standard IRA. This will allow you to diversify a bit and have the benefits of both.
March 1st, 2009 at 12:48 am
You roll it over into an IRA. That does not count toward your annual IRA contribution limit.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:32 am
Roll it into a Traditional IRA/Rollover IRA - do you live in PA? I could do it for you.
Decide first what you want for that money, there are a couple of different options to fund your IRA depending on your time horizon, risk tolerance and objectives. Straight mutual funds are common, look for fees involving share classes (A usually ends up being cheaper in the long run) as well as maintenance and management expenses. These are typically more hidden but you will want to stay below 1%. Alternatively, if you would like to actively trade stock in your account, a brokerage platform will allow you to do so - these are generally much more expensive to own. Lastly, some annuity products can make good vehicles, again, if it aligns with yur objectives, etc. They come in all flavors so you would have to narrow down a good match between you and a product.
March 5th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Your best choice is to leave it there until you are able to roll it over into another 401K plan in the future. This is of course if the company will let you. 401K plans typically invest in mutual funds which typically have a better return then IRA’s.
If you must transfer it transfer it into a Roth IRA, however shop around and see which institution will give you the best GUARATEED rate. Also make sure the % rate is 4% or greater otherwise you are lossing money to inflation.
March 7th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Roll it over to a traditional IRA. It doesn’t matter how much money you have in your 401k you can alway move it to an IRA, and still max-out you IRA.
Never roll money over to another employers plan. Legally the money in your employer’s retirement plan for as long as it stays in their retirement plan is their money not yours, and they are allowed take that money without your authorization (although very unlikely to happen).