5 Things you need to know about your old 401k
In today’s crazy economic world, more and more people are concerned about losing some or all of their old 401k or other retiremet plan. Here are five things you need to know about old your 401k.
1: It’s your money. Your name is on it and it should be held by a third party custodian, so even if your old company goes under, your plan will be there.
2: Check on your old plans investment options on a regular basis. It’s likely you set the plan up when you started working there and your risk tolerance may be different now.
3: rollover the funds to an IRA when and if possible. Typically 401k plans have a limited number of investment options. This is because research has shown that with fewer options you get more participation. Executives need employees to participate because their are top hat rules that say executives can only be a certain part of all retirement plan options.
4: Use a Conduit IRA. One secret 401k rollover method is a conduit IRA. A conduit IRA is a resting place for old retirement plans. They allow you to switch or change jobs and while doing so rollover funds to an IRA. What’s nice about the conduit IRA is that after you find your next job you then have the option to roll the funds into another work plan if desired. Check out ConduitIRA.com
5: The biggest risk you face in the investment world today is being uneducated about how investments and investment advisors work. Buy a book, subscribe to a magazine, and attend seminars to get educated. Today we are all more responsible for our future than ever before so get smart about it.
NAKED RETIREMENT
Naked Retirement strips down the old traditional models of retirement planning and replaces the it with a more creative and intuitive one that helps people take control of their retirement planning, saving, and investing.
The book details the evolution of retirement and uses it to help baby boomers and retirees understand why they are behind in saving and what they can do about it.
"Retirement planning can no longer be one-dimensional, focused exclusively on merely providing information such as how pensions or a 401(k)’s work. It needs to extend beyond financial planning to include aspects of health and social issues that will impact future retirees," according to author, Robert Laura.
Billed as the ultimate defense against the scary, anxious, and stressful feelings people get on their first day of retirement when they have only a financial plan full of numbers and charts to guide them, Laura simplifies the mental and emotional aspects of retirement planning with thought-provoking questions about your definition and approach to retirement as well as important retirement conversations that foster strong relationships in retirement.
The book culminates into a one-page Naked Retirement plan that will help people as well as planners successfully estimate retirement preparedness and future success.
Book is available at NakedRetirement.com and is emailed in pdf format directly to participants.