What are the steps to rollover a 401k, will be self employed.?

Question

I have let my 401k at my old company for the last 2 years.
I think it's time to put it somewhere, but I have no idea where to
invest it. Or how to start.
Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

IT is a fairly simple process. How you go about it will depend on how much you have invested and how much time and effort you want to put into building and managing your portfolio.

If you have relatively little invested and you don't want to spend a lot of time on it the least expensive/easiest way if to open an IRA directly with a Mutual Fund company and put it in a nice balanced fund within your risk tolerance. American Funds is a good one. They offer lots of funds that have great performance records and don't get killed as badly in a bear market Like the Vanguard funds generally do. (I do not work for or have any affiliation with them)

If you enjoy and have the time and knowledge to build your own portfolio as well as manage it, an on line broker (E-trade, TD, etc) might be a good idea. they will not offer you any advice but will give you the tools to do it yourself.

Lastly, If you don't have the time, interest or knowledge to do it yourself, and you have a significant amount of money or a more complicated investment/financial situation. I would say consider hiring a good Financial Planner/Advisor. Sure, it will cost a little more but if their performance and service justifies the fees it can be worth it just to sleep well at night knowing the experts are handling it. Just shop carefully, trust your gut, and interview more then one.

Oh, and if they try to sell you products in the first meeting or are not upfront with how they are compensated-RUN!

Good luck!

Answer 2

This is an easy question to answer. It is always recommended to roll over your 401k into a brokerage firm such as Ameritrade, Schwab, E*Trade, etc (don't worry I don't work for a brokerage firm and am not giving you biased advice). You can rollover your 401k into what is called a Rollover IRA account. Just call any of these firms customer service numbers, and they usually have dedicated 401K rollover specialists ( i know Schwab does) who help you with the process.

The advantage to rolling your old 401k over is that you can consolidate assets, get more investment options than what your old company's 401k can offer, and not pay any fees administered by the old 401k administration.

Answer 3

Go to Fidelity's website and get a phone number for a sales rep...no hard sell, just tell you how to do it...I've rolled my wife's and daughters' 401's into nice IRA accounts that they can manipulate on-line. You can go simple and hold one or two funds or you can trade anything you want: funds, stocks, ETF's....and the funds available are mostly " no transaction fee".. even the funds from about twenty different investment companies ( Vanguard,T.Rowe, U.S.Global,etc.
I would guess you would not be disappointed if you went that way.
Good luck.

Answer 4

ROLL IT INTO A SELF DIRECTED IRA OR CONTACT AN INSURANCE AGENT OR PLANNER IF YOU DON'T WANT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PAPERWORK OR SAVINGS STRATEGY. DEPENDING ON YOUR AGE, YOU MAY HAVE MANY OPTIONS AVAILABLE.