Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Roll it over

One of our new hires here at NewPointe asked me a great question today. " What do I do with the money I have in my old employers 401K plan?"

I love this question. This is an opportunity for freedom / great choice. Let me state the best action to take is to roll your money out of your old employers plan. Never take the money out.

Roll your old 401K into a self directed IRA not your new employers plan. The biggest reason for this is freedom in choosing your investment funds. Your not limited to the choices in your new employers plan. Notice I said "funds" not individual stocks. We are talking your retirement nest egg here and individual stocks carry way, way to much risk.

When people come to me for investment advise, I recommend two funds for them to research. I like Vanguards life cycle funds and I love the Sound Mind Investing Fund. (Do your own research before purchasing any investment.)

The way to get started with rolling your old 401K money over is to first open a new "IRA Rollover" account with an broker (I prefer online brokers), or the mutual fund company directly.

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