401(k) Intro: Is Your Retirement Plan Foolish?

• Report this Comment On February 28, 2009, at 9:50 AM, excaliburmini wrote:

  years ago my wife entered into a 403b tax shelterd annuity with Met Life, we needed money for college and borrowed on this plan...we were unable to pay off the loan completely and have been charged interest on our money to this day...it is also impossible to cash out of the plan, pay off the $7000 of accumulated interest to Met Life and remove the funds, pay the penalty and taxes to the IRS.

  Is this a common plan? Today I am sorry we did not let a lawyer look at the fine print...no company should be allowed to keep your money against your will. I would love some feedback,if others were caught in a plan like this

• Report this Comment On March 09, 2009, at 2:37 PM, dammbit wrote:

  I am pretty much in the same boat as Excalibur. I have a 401K through my employer, and no way to pull my money out of it or close it unless I quit my job. obviously, in this economy, being jobless is not some place I wish to be....

  From my understanding there is no way to remove your money legally from a plan like this, but I am not the expert. I'd love to find out for sure what is right. I think I could do better with my money than the paltry funds made available to me through the plan my employer has set up.

• Report this Comment On March 25, 2009, at 11:21 PM, AnnuityWizard wrote:

  Check your employee handbook for what is called a "non-hardship inservice withdrawal."

  Some companies have it and some don't. It will be buried in the fine print but if present will allow you to withdraw funds but usually only to the amount you contributed. Sorry, employer match isn't included.

  Good luck

• Report this Comment On April 06, 2009, at 12:11 AM, eileen1023 wrote:

  we have 10.000 that we would like to invest in the "The only Oil Company you will need to own"

  Has this info been made available to us Fools

• Report this Comment On July 26, 2009, at 8:06 AM, LGFFool wrote:

  This is a great article for "this part" of your retirement planning.

  The people that laugh at social security and think they have enough for retirement with their 401k will have a difficult time in retirement.

  These days you must have a regular steady investment in both your 401k and either a Roth IRA or traditional IRA so that you have enough at retirement.

  You can join our free Facebook group "Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves" if you like to learn more on saving and investing. Just search Facebook for "Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves" and click on "become a fan" for instant access.

  You can't take anything for granted these days. You can also check out www.middleclassmoney.com for more on the ways to get ahead in this economy.

  We are for staying positive, but it pays to be on the right track. The people developing their own plan for getting ahead, staying away from fees and being serious about regular and automatic savings will get ahead while others fall behind.

  Thank you.

• Report this Comment On September 01, 2009, at 3:52 PM, tradingmarkets wrote:

  In a deflationary crash, cash and cash equivalents such as short term treasuries is the place to be. Credit bubble was inflated for 50 years. Almost all money in the economy is bank credit. It has principle + interest that needs to be paid back. It is going to deflate in a terrible way! Watch your 401k. Stocks, Gold, OIL, housing, everything will go down.

  Look how over valued the stocks are:

  http://www.tradingstocks.net/html/near_bottom.html

  Prechter explained the problem years ago. Must read:

  http://www.tradingstocks.net/html/forecasting.html

  Wait before you jump into stocks. There will be the buying opportunity of 400 years. Your children, their children, grand grand children will thank you.

• Report this Comment On November 27, 2009, at 8:33 AM, nucat60 wrote:

  I recently left a job and am wondering if there is any way to access the non-vested balance of my former 401k? I know the standard answer, but there has to be a way.........

• Report this Comment On April 16, 2010, at 3:25 AM, soheilkh wrote:

  salam

• Report this Comment On July 04, 2010, at 12:15 AM, mikefransen wrote:

  More on 401(k) facts, fiduciary duties, fees, and regulatory efforts to force disclosure at ERISA -Shmerisa! (http://shmerisa.wordpress.com)

• Report this Comment On September 17, 2010, at 1:27 AM, sunitachourasia wrote:

  I don't think that Retirement plan is foolish coz when we ll be 50-60 yrs old and there is no1 who can support us then this retirement plan helps us a lot. Man does not loss his self respect and self confidence. "Money hai to honey hai", that means if u have money in your old stage then any1 ll ready to help you.... so retirement plan is best for the people!!!

• Report this Comment On November 22, 2010, at 2:10 PM, jbarnes1217 wrote:

  I have $165k in a previous company's 401K. Would it be wise for me to take that money, put it in an IRA and dedicate all, most or a % of it to the Million Dollar Portfolio?

  Any advice is very much appreciated!

  Thanks!

• Report this Comment On November 22, 2010, at 2:11 PM, jbarnes1217 wrote:

  As a follow-up to my above question, I don't need to touch that money for 20+ years.

• Report this Comment On June 03, 2011, at 11:35 PM, scheideckerj wrote:

  What are the drawbacks (if any) to putting 403-B funds from former employers into an IRA?

  Also, I am 58, and wonder whether it makes sense to convert to Roth IRA. The last time I did it, I paid a boatload in taxes. My income would make that happen again, but I plan to retire in a couple years--can I do it after 59 1/2?

  I plan to live to 90.

• Report this Comment On June 07, 2011, at 12:48 AM, DanWetzel1 wrote:

  I hope I live to see a need for a retirement account...

• Report this Comment On August 07, 2011, at 6:50 PM, akwoman101 wrote:

  What is the diff btw a 401k and an IRA (or Roth IRA)? If I have a 401k, what is the advantage of having a Roth IRA, also? Because of my low income, I can afford to contribute only so much, so it's not like I have a bundle of money to do something with and need to find diff places to stash it.....(unfortunately).

• Report this Comment On October 08, 2011, at 10:32 PM, retireewannabee wrote:

  Ak,

  401k is offered thru employer. the money goes from top of your paycheck (gross, before taxes) into a savings plan. it artificially lowers your ann income for tax purposes.

  IRA is do-it-yourself or offered thru brokerages, banks. Many options, varieties. This one is line-item deduction on your 1040 at tax time.

  Both 401ks and IRAs grow tax-deffered, meaning, you don't pay tax on that money until you take it out. after age 59.5 preferably (to avoid taxes, penalties; there are exceptions)

  Roth IRAs are a different matter. money contributed is after tax, so you do not pay tax on that when you take it out and it also grows tax deferred (no tax bill on growth).

  What should you do with few dollars to invest?

  If a 401k is available to you, do that. it's the best tax shelter and often, your employer will match your contributions, so you can make each investment larger with their help. annual limits are above 10k, so probably like me, you'll never hit the ceiling.

  IRAs, traditional and Roth, have annual limits that are lower. something like 5-6 k a year, plus provision for age 50+ catch up. Please note, that limit is the max for contributions to all IRAs you have.

  for example, I have a traditional AND Roth IRA. I can only contribute the annual maximum, regardless of how much goes to which.

  hope this helps.

  Roth is different

• Report this Comment On December 19, 2011, at 8:38 PM, FoolishDoug wrote:

  How much money do all companies deposit each week for all employee/employer 401K contributions in the US?

• Report this Comment On December 20, 2011, at 8:03 PM, xxbrainxx wrote:

  Not Enough!

• Report this Comment On August 01, 2012, at 10:59 PM, shepa005 wrote:

  Do you know if I can roll over a 403b into a 401k? It's through the same employer.

• Report this Comment On December 17, 2012, at 8:34 PM, clippership wrote:

  would it be best to roll over a 457plan from a job I left into an IRA or a Roth?What is a good brokerage to invest with?

• Report this Comment On April 07, 2013, at 10:38 AM, RUSHmusic wrote:

  My company just got sold and the new company instituted a new administrator for our 401k. My money is still with the old provider. The problem, now, is that the new provider will charge a $50 fee per year for administrative costs. The old provider was ING Direct and the new provider is Fidelity. Is there a way to move my 401k plan to another company without getting hit with a 20% income tax and still funding my account?

• Report this Comment On April 09, 2013, at 8:21 AM, texakomie wrote:

  I was just force retired from a company where I have a 401k account. I am considering rolling it over to an existing IRA account with another broker. However, I want to know if I leave the funds at my account with the former employer will I still have to start taking required mandatory distribution since I am 74 and already taking RMD from another IRA account at another firm even though there will be no additional contributions?

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