401K, Unemployment question

[chia]

DH's last day at work is Wednesday...
What the heck do we do with his 401K?

Do we roll it into a new account right away?
Or, should we wait until he gets a new job, and roll it into that account?

Does anyone know of a website that breaks this down, baby-step style? We're kind of dumb about this stuff, and neither of us has ever switched jobs.

[mrs.spunky]

You will want to roll it into an IRA, most likely immediately as you will now be able to invest in whatever you want, as opposed to whatever fund and stock choices he has available to him currently.

If you call a brokerage, like Fidelity, Vanguard, AmeriTrade, etc., they will walk you through it.

[SJ]

I agree that it is best to roll it to an IRA. What brokerage firm is it currently with?

[Deleted]

I rolled mine over right after I left my old job so I'd have a ton more investment options. I called Vanguard and they talked me through the whole thing.

[anna7602]

I've rolled it over into an IRA and I've also left it with the same fund/account. It depends on how much flexibility the account gives you. I like the funds available with the last job I left 3 years ago, so still have my 401k there.

[Deleted]

I would roll it into an IRA right away.

I did this and did the Roth conversion. My brokerage walked me through all the paperwork and withheld the taxes for me. (You won't need to pay taxes unless you convert to a Roth.)

[Deleted]

I'll be the voice of dissent. I would leave it where it is for now as long as it's doing reasonably well. One less thing to worry about for the time being. If you know how you want to invest it, you certainly can rile it over. But there's no need to do it right away.

[chia]

Sept 17, 2012 15:12:34 GMT -5 BirdGirl said:

I'll be the voice of dissent. I would leave it where it is for now as long as it's doing reasonably well. One less thing to worry about for the time being. If you know how you want to invest it, you certainly can rile it over. But there's no need to do it right away.

This might be a dumb question... but, is there a timeline by when you have to do something with it?

[gt7301b]

Sept 17, 2012 19:54:06 GMT -5 chia said:

Sept 17, 2012 15:12:34 GMT -5 BirdGirl said:

I'll be the voice of dissent. I would leave it where it is for now as long as it's doing reasonably well. One less thing to worry about for the time being. If you know how you want to invest it, you certainly can rile it over. But there's no need to do it right away.

This might be a dumb question... but, is there a timeline by when you have to do something with it?

Nope. As long as your balance is greater than $5,000 you should be fine. (The employer isn't required to keep open a balance less than $5,000)

[Deleted]

I still have my money in an old 401k.

I suppose I should move it.

[chia]

Sept 17, 2012 20:05:05 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

Sept 17, 2012 19:54:06 GMT -5 chia said:

This might be a dumb question... but, is there a timeline by when you have to do something with it?

Nope. As long as your balance is greater than $5,000 you should be fine. (The employer isn't required to keep open a balance less than $5,000)

Thanks for the replies... we'll just wait until we see a financial planner!