I am not sure what retirement means for a 62 year old with a vested 401K. Will I qualify for a monthly pension or will I only be allowed to withdraw funds up to what I have in the account?

401k isn't a pension per se... when it is depleted.. that's all there is and there isn't any more. There are restrictions and you will pay tax on withdrawls.

Agree, a 401 K is merely like "money in the bank" and how much you can get will depend on how much is in the account. If you have been putting large sums in it, for years, you may be OK, if you only have 10 or 20 thousand in it, well that is not much.

You talk to the holder of the 401K, other investment companies, about an annuity, and you move that money over, where you start receiving monthly payments.

Unfortunately, the government imposes a 10 percent penalty on any withdrawals before age 59 1/2. Some early distributions qualify for a waiver of that penalty -- for instance hardships, higher education expenses and buying a first home.

You can start, as you are 62, but you will have to pay ordinary taxes on what ever you take out. If you wait till you are 70 1/2 you must start taking the money out. Be sure to check with someone who is tax savvy so you do not make any mistakes.

As noted a 401(k) is not a pension. But that doesn't mean you can't set it up to do monthly payments. You need to talk to the plan administrator about that.

Before you decide what do to with your 401(k), you need to look at all your sources of retirement income, (SS, other pensions other assets) and compare that to how much you think you need to live.

One option to consider is after you retire to roll the 401K(k) into an annuity, which will guarantee that you will receive a certain income stream for life (like a pension). This, along with social security payments, can bring some certainty to retirement planning. But the monthly amount that the annuity will pay out is probably not as large as you'd like, especially with interest rates today being so low. There are other strategies that can generally do a better job of providing income from your 401(k) in retirement - I'd be happy to describe what they are if you are interested.

You qualify for SS. Not sure if you have a pension, HR is best dept. to contact. Do a trustee to Trustee rollover of the 401K to an IRA. Then you can set the IRA up in a number of investments that would give you income only or growth and income. I retired at 64 and have never regretted it-almost 11 yrs. Ago.

Retiring now will get you a much lower monthly SS amount than retiring later. I think your 'full amount' year is age 66. Depends on your birthday.