Ask an Advisor: What Do I Do With My 401k?
Transcript
Paul Sorenson: 00:09
Hi, welcome to the Puckett and Sturgill Ask An Advisor segment. We’re glad you joined us. I’m Paul Sorenson, financial planner with Puckett and Sturgill Financial Group. I’m here today with David Hemler, certified financial planner professional. David, we’re here to ask today, and discuss, I have a 401k plan. This is one of the questions we get almost every day. I have a 401k plan. What do I do with my 401k plan? Can you help me?
David Hemler: 00:33
That’s a great question, and yes, we can help you. The first thing is to define, are we talking about a former employer plan or a current employer plan? For the former employer plan, you have four options there. Those options are to leave it with the current custodian. To withdrawal it, which is called a distribution. To roll it into your current employer, if that current employer plan offers roll ins, and many do. Or, move it to an IRA. That’s the four options with a former employer plan. With your current plan, the key ingredients for you to understand are what is the matching program so that you can fully gain access to 100% of the match that’s available to you. If there’s a match available, not every 401k has to offer you a match, so that’s an important piece of the summary plan description, which governs that, that you want to understand. And we can help you to discern through that, to get those types of answers on behalf of your plan. Getting 100% of the match, and also understanding your allocation and how it aligns to your risk acceptance and your time horizon for the goals that you have for those retirement assets.
Paul: 01:46
Great, great. I think that answers a lot of it. For a former plan, we’re looking at keeping it where it’s at, rolling it into another 401k plan, potentially diversifying it into an IRA. Those are all great options. I think that’s …
David: 02:02
A lot of complexity there too, so our best advice would be to talk to a professional advisor. Get some guidance before you make a final decision on an old employer plan.
Paul: 02:12
Great. That’s really helpful, David. Thank you so much. We look forward to hearing from you, should you have any additional questions, and please feel free to submit additional questions to us online.