In this day and age many people are not working for the same company for their whole life. They may work for several companies before they finally retire. Each company that they go with has a different 401(k) for them to contribute to, and most people just leave those 401(k) plans with the old company when they start with a new. Here are 3 reasons why you should rollover your 401(k) every time you leave a company.
- If you are getting into your later years and fairly near to retirement, you don’t want that money just sitting there dealing with the ups and downs of the market. In most cases you have to have a life change in order to roll over your 401(k). You can’t just roll it over whenever you please. However, leaving that company is one of those events that allows you to do it. Later in life you can’t afford to take the chance of taking a hit with your retirement money, so make sure you roll it over into something that is going to protect your money for that time.
- You may be paying higher fees in that 401(k) than you would in another account. If your employer matches your contribution, this usually offsets those fees and then some so it is worth it to pay into your 401(k) while you are receiving the match. But once you lose that match, especially if you are with a smaller company, the fees can cost you more than it’s worth. Make sure you aren’t losing money in fees when you leave your company.
- This should be the number one reason if we were counting backward. When you leave your 401(k) with your old company, if anything happens to that company, your 401(k) will be frozen. You won’t be able to do anything with it no matter what stage of life you are in. The bigger and more successful the company is the less likely this is to happen, but why take the chance? You don’t want to have your 401(k) assets frozen when you want to get to them.
There are many other reasons you should rollover your old 401(k) plan but these 3 should make the case. Make sure you are protecting that hard earned money and that it’s there for you when you are ready for retirement. If you have an old 401(k) that you need to rollover we can help you with that. click on the Connect With Us button at the top of the page and set up a Discovery Meeting with us. We will be glad to steer you in the right direction.
Be blessed.
