Many money savvy young professionals utilize retirement accounts to invest money and minimize their yearly tax bill. While doing so is great for wealth creation, many people are unsure of what to do when they change jobs. Maybe you’ve wondered the same thing? Perhaps you’ve contributed 5-10% of your salary to your work retirement plan and now find yourself in the transition period about to work for a new employer. While you are excited about the new job, maybe you wonder what to do with the retirement account you had at your old job. Here are 5 options to consider:
Option 1: Leave it where it is. If you like the retirement plan options at your old job and the fees are low just let the money stay there and continue to grow. Unless your old employer demands that you move it, you can likely just the money you contributed in that same account. Although you can’t continue to contribute to that particular work-sponsored account if you no longer work there, you can let the money you already invested keep building over time. You can start withdrawing the money from that account at age 59.5 without incurring any early withdraw penalties but you must start withdrawing it by age 72. If you like the investment options offered by your employer, such as standard low-cost index mutual funds, then keeping the money where it is may be a good option.
Option 2: Roll it into your new job’s retirement plan. This may be a good option if you’re not particularly thrilled with the 401K options at your old employer and like the retirement plan investment options at your new job better. It may also be a good idea if you don’t want to keep track of multiple different 401Ks (or 403b’s) and would prefer to have them all at the same place. If you want to rollover the money into your new job’s retirement plan you simply contact the custodian or manager of the 401K (or 403b) plans at your old job and let them know you want to rollover the funds into the 401K (or 403b) at your new job. This a direct transfer. All you have to do is fill out some paperwork. (Some jobs may make you wait until you’ve been at the new job for a certain length of time before they let you do the rollover so contact your new job and ask). Since the money is going from one pre-tax retirement plan (at your old job) to another pre-tax retirement plan (at your new job) you won’t owe any taxes. You are simply combining 2 accounts into one. If you don’t want to do a direct transfer, you can also have the person in charge of your job’s 401K write you a check for the money and you can then deposit that check into your new job’s 401K yourself. (By law, you must make the deposit within 60 days.)
Option 3: Put the money in a traditional IRA. With this option, you call a brokerage firm like Fidelity, Vanguard, etc and let them know you want to open an individual retirement account (I.R.A) or tell them that you want to roll money from your old job’s retirement plan into your existing IRA. Putting the money into a traditional IRA may be an option for people who may not have good retirement plan options at their new job or want a bit more control over their investment plan options. The biggest advantage of opening an IRA this is that you now will have control of your retirement account and it won’t be controlled by your employer. With this control you can invest in whatever you want, whether that’s individual stocks or various mutual funds you find appealing. You also do not have pay any extra money in taxes when you transfer the funds. Through a self-directed IRA, which is a traditional IRA that you have control over, you can even invest in things like real estate, art, business partnerships, and precious metals. The downside of putting the money in a traditional IRA is that you will now be excluded from using the backdoor Roth IRA method which allows high income earners to put money into Roth IRA accounts each year.
Option 4: Convert it to a Roth IRA. Choosing to convert your work 401K (or 403b) into a Roth IRA is different from putting the money into a traditional IRA. Unlike a traditional IRA, which you contribute to with pre-tax dollars, you contribute to a Roth IRA with post-tax dollars. In other words, you contribute to a Roth IRA after taxes have already been taken out of your check and you never have to pay taxes on that money again. Why does this matter? Because with a Roth IRA you can invest in a way that allows your money to make even more money over time and you never have to pay taxes on the profits. Plus, you can take your contributions out of the Roth IRA at any time without any penalties which means it can serve as an extra emergency fund. In order to convert the money in your 401K (where you made contributions with pre-tax dollars) into a Roth IRA (which you contribute to with post tax dollars), you have to pay taxes on that money. For example, if you have $10,000 in your work 401K, and your marginal tax rate is 25%, then converting your 401K to a Roth IRA will increase the amount of taxes you owe by $10,000 x .25 = $2,500. This may seem like a lot of money now, but when you take the money out in retirement you may be paying an even higher amount in taxes since the overall amount in the amount will have grown over time. Before you decide what to do, see how much money you have in your 401K and calculate the taxes you’d have to pay if you converted it to a Roth IRA. If you can handle the increase in taxes, then converting it to a Roth IRA may be worth it.
Option 5: Cash it out. Technically speaking, you can cash out your 401K at your old job and have them write you a check for you to spend on whatever you want. This may be something to consider if you need the money to buy a home, pay off debt, or use for some other reason. While it may be nice to get an influx of cash, understand that the amount you get may be much less than you think. Since you did not have to pay taxes on money that went into the 401K, if you decide to cash it out, you will have to pay taxes on that money. Plus, if you are under age 55, you will also incur a 10% early withdrawal penalty. For example, if you have $15,000 in your work 401K and you want to cash it out, realize you will not get a $15,000 check. If your marginal tax rate is say 22% and you are under age 55, then you will only get a check for around $10,000 (only 2/3 of the money you had in the account) once you account for taxes and the early withdrawal penalty.
My point? You have 5 options of what to do with your 401K (or 403b) when you change jobs. In order to avoid paying a lot in taxes, some people tend to leave the money where it is or roll it into their new job’s 401K. If they can afford the taxes, then they may try to convert it to a Roth IRA to save themselves money in taxes later in life. Other options are to put it into a traditional IRA or cash it out. The choice is yours.