{"id":332021,"date":"2026-02-11T16:40:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/332021\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T16:40:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:40:05","slug":"is-it-silly-i-have-108k-in-my-401k-and-i-want-to-move-it-and-retire-at-the-end-of-this-year-now-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/332021\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Is it silly?\u2019 I have $108K in my 401(k) and I want to move it and retire at the end of this year. Now what?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m planning on retiring at the end of this year. I have about $108,000 in my 401(k), which I will have to move when I retire. How do I get information on where and how to move this money? Is it silly to hire a financial adviser just to help me with this one task, or should I hire them and then also have them look into other areas of my finances as I enter retirement?\u201d<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> You actually may not have to move your 401(k), though you may want to get better investment options. And pros say that while you likely don\u2019t need a financial adviser to help you move a 401(k), you may want one to create a one-time financial plan that you can follow in retirement. You can use this free tool to get matched to fiduciary advisers<\/a> from our ad partner SmartAsset, as well as sites like CFP Board and NAPFA.<\/p>\n

But first, to figure out your 401(k) rules, the most convenient place to start would be to consult your company\u2019s HR department. \u201cThey will either have someone on staff that is well versed in your 401(k) plan specifics or be able to put you in contact with a representative from your 401(k) plan administrator. You can also review your plan\u2019s Summary Plan Description which should be available online through your 401(k)\u2019s online portal,\u201d says Derek Jones, chartered financial analyst at Scratch Capital.<\/p>\n

There are a few common distribution options in 401(k) plans. \u201cI would recommend consulting with a financial professional to discuss the implications, pros and cons of each option,\u201d says Jones. \u201cYou can leave your money in the 401(k), where it remains invested and you can then set up periodic cash distributions from the account. You can do a tax-free rollover from your 401(k) account into an individual retirement account. If your 401(k) contains pretax money, you would roll that portion into a Traditional IRA and if your 401(k) contains Roth money, you would roll that portion into a Roth IRA. Some plans allow you to convert your investment balance into an annuity that pays you a predetermined monthly amount for the rest of your life.\u201d <\/p>\n

Have an issue with your financial planner or looking for a new one? Email questions or concerns to picks@marketwatch.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t drive yourself crazy looking for outside help. \u201cMany 401(k) custodians have retail arms that can help you with the process of moving assets out of your 401(k) and into an appropriate account. Coupled with some knowledge from a few searches, you\u2019ll have all you need to be informed and be able to spot any red flags if they appear to be pushing high-fee solutions or something else,\u201d says certified financial planner Tim Witham at Balanced Life Planning.<\/p>\n

For his part, Jamie Ebersole at Ebersole Financial says there\u2019s usually no requirement that you have to move the money from the plan once you retire. \u201cThere may be benefits to keeping the funds in the plan, such as enhanced creditor protection and potentially low fees and access to ongoing planning services. The first stop should be with your HR department to review what your options are. They can also help you decide if making a rollover to an IRA makes sense,\u201d says Ebersole.<\/p>\n

Indeed, setting up a rollover IRA account takes no more than a few minutes on most platforms. \u201cAlways be sure to have the transfer made directly from the current account to the new account in a trustee to trustee transaction. If the funds are first distributed to you by check, taxes may be withheld and you will never get those funds back,\u201d says Ebersole.<\/p>\n

Make sure you do your due diligence on where you\u2019re moving the money before you make the move. \u201cThis is years of work being transferred to a new home so you want to be sure the new place is flexible, low cost and tax efficient. For most people approaching retirement, a direct rollover to an IRA is the cleanest path as it preserves the tax-deferred status of the funds, eliminates the early withdrawal penalties and gives you access to thousands of investment choices instead of a 401(k) menu with a dozen or two options,\u201d says certified financial planner Eric Croak at Croak Capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you need an adviser?<\/p>\n

While the move of your 401(k) is easy, the setup, picking the right institution, asset mix and income plan are where people make costly mistakes. \u201cBringing in an adviser for just the rollover feels like overkill, but if you\u2019re transitioning to retirement, you\u2019re in the ideal stage for a more comprehensive financial health check,\u201d says Croak. \u201cAccumulation versus distribution are two entirely different games, so the right planner can show you how to take tax-efficient income, structure withdrawals to minimize RMD pain down the road and calibrate risk so your $108,000 lasts a lifetime. Think of it like taking your car to the mechanic before a cross-country road trip. You don\u2019t do it every year, but you do it before a big adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brad Clark, investment adviser representative at Solomon Financial, says he strongly encourages you to reach out to an independent financial adviser to discuss your situation. \u201cThis ensures that you get an unbiased perspective. A qualified independent adviser can often assist you in a number of different areas related to retirement planning such as tax strategies, Social Security planning, required minimum distributions and other complex retirement matters,\u201d says Clark.\u00a0An adviser can also tell you, if in fact, that $108,000, plus whatever benefits you might get, will be enough to retire on, or whether you\u2019re better off saving more.<\/p>\n

To find a pro, Clark recommends the Dave Ramsey SmartVestor Pro program. \u201cIt\u2019s critically important to confirm the adviser\u2019s legal standard of care. A fiduciary is legally obligated to put your best interests first at all times, whereas a non-fiduciary operating under a suitability standard only has to recommend suitable investments which may still involve selling proprietary products or funds that pay them a higher commission,\u201d says Clark. You can also use this free tool to get matched to fiduciary advisers<\/a> from our ad partner SmartAsset.<\/p>\n

Beyond the 401(k), an adviser may be able to add significant value in areas of retirement planning, tax planning and investment management. \u201cRetirement is full of strange and ever-changing rules that most people are unaware of. Having an adviser step through those decisions could add significant value through careful planning,\u201d says Witham.<\/p>\n

If you prefer to DIY this, some advisers offer one-time consults or hourly meetings just for transitions like this. \u201cThis is an affordable way to validate your plan without committing to ongoing management. I\u2019ve had single sessions before that have found moves that would pay for the advice tenfold,\u201d says Croak.<\/p>\n

To better understand the cost of different fee structures, CFPs who offer one-time plans typically charge between $1,500 and $7,500 per plan while hourly planners charge between $200 and $500 per hour, depending on location and complexity of the case. With just $108,000, you probably won\u2019t meet the threshold to work with an adviser who works under the AUM model, but you also probably don\u2019t need the ongoing support they offer. <\/p>\n

Have an issue with your financial planner or looking for a new one? Email questions or concerns to picks@marketwatch.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Questions edited for brevity and clarity. By emailing your questions to The Advicer, you agree to have them published anonymously on MarketWatch; they may appear anonymously in other media and platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: \u201cI\u2019m planning on retiring at the end of this year. I have about $108,000 in my 401(k),…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[177],"tags":[79,13782,41565,18,47522,18131,3334,19,41586,3442,41557,17,234,235,9436,44285,2895,19363],"class_list":["post-332021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-corporate","tag-corporate-industrial-news","tag-eire","tag-financial-investment-services","tag-financial-services","tag-general-news","tag-ie","tag-industrial-news","tag-investing","tag-investing-securities","tag-ireland","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-political","tag-political-general-news","tag-retirement-planning","tag-securities"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116052991969734014","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}