[King1978]

Moving your monies to other accounts to get the best return for your money

[smoothy]

You are aware there are steep penalties to move money OUT of a 401K plan unless you move it to ANOTHER 401K plan?

[ebaines]

smoothy: not necessarily true - you can transfer your 401(k) plan to another qualified retirement plan (such as an IRA) without penalty.

King1978: In general I think it's a good idea once you have left a company where you have a 401(k) plan to transfer your 401(k) plan to an IRA at a discount brokerage such as Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, etc. The reason is that in general these firms offer greater flexibility in investments of no-load mutual funds and have lower operating fees than most employers' 401(k) plans. In general I would not recommend moving your account to an IRA managed by a bank or insurance company because they tend to have higher fees such as up-front or back-end loads and operating fees that are a bit more hidden but that can significantly detract from your investment performance over time.

One scenario where I would not recommend making the transfer from a 401(k) to an IRA is if you have left employment after age 55, are younger than age 59-1/2, and are planning on taking distributions from your retirement plans before age 59-1/2. You are alloweed to do this from a 401(k) plan without penalty, but for an IRA you must wait till age 59-1/2 to avoid the early withdrawal penalty.