What to do with your 401(k) when you retire

For many employees, what to do with a 401(k) plan at retirement has been a foregone conclusion: Roll it over.

The opportunity to hang on to assets after employees retire — and in turn keep costs down for the whole plan—isn't lost on defined-contribution plan advisors. In  a 2021 Pimco survey of retirement plan consultants and advisors, 36% of firms said they were actively encouraging participants to stay put in their plans following retirement.

If you’re pondering whether to leave the assets behind or roll them over for retirement, here are the key questions to ask, listed in order of importance.

What’s the quality of the 401(k)?

This is the key question when deciding whether to leave assets in a plan or roll them over. You should assess the quality of the plan on three key metrics: quality and breadth of the investment lineup, investment fees for the fund options in the plan, and any administrative fees that the plan levies on its participants.

You can use Morningstar ratings and data to assess investment options, though you may have to do some additional sleuthing if your plan includes  collective investment trusts  rather than mutual funds that are open to the public.

Do you need early access to your funds?

If you're a young retiree and need access to your money before the age of 59.5, staying put in the 401(k) plan may be the most practical course, even if the 401(k) isn't all that great. That's because investors in 401(k) plans who have left their employers can tap their assets a touch earlier without penalty—at age 55—versus age 59.5 for IRA investors. Just be sure you've fully assessed your portfolio's long-run sustainability before contemplating withdrawals at such an early age.

Does the plan allow flexibility over withdrawals?

Some plans may not allow retirees to pick and choose which investments they tap for withdrawals but instead require them to take distributions pro rata from all the holdings in the account. That lack of flexibility can be a major disadvantage for retirees who would like to use their withdrawals to help keep their asset allocations in line with their targets on an ongoing basis.

In a similar vein, if the plan offers traditional and Roth options, the participant may not be able to choose which account to pull from; distributions may have to come out pro rata from both account types.

Do you need creditor protections?

Legal protections are another reason to consider staying put in an old 401(k). Although laws regarding creditor protections for retirement assets vary by state, company retirement plan assets generally have better protections from creditors and lawsuits than do IRA assets. Obviously, these protections will be a bigger consideration for those who have had credit or bankruptcy problems, or work in a profession where there’s a possibility they could be sued.

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This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to  https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance

Christine Benz is the director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar.