How Draining Your 401(k) Could Cost You

When taking a new job, it’s tempting for many workers to cash out their 401(k)s and take what could be thousands of dollars of cash. Other workers may not pay much attention to their 401(k)s after they switch employers, and so they leave the decision regarding those assets up to their former employers. Both of those actions can have severe financial consequences.

Don’t Empty Your 401(k)

Cashing out your 401(k) brings up all sorts of tax liabilities. You won’t get the full amount that’s in your account but you might still be tempted to take the money, especially if you find yourself with all sorts of bills to pay.But if you do that you’ll miss out on the opportunity to keep saving for retirement, such as rolling over your 401(k) into an IRA. Rolling over your 401(k) into an IRA allows you to keep many of the same tax benefits while allowing your assets to continue gaining value.

Don’t Ignore Your 401(k)

Ignoring your 401(k) could be just as dangerous. If you don’t take control of your assets while changing employers and if you meet certain conditions, your employer could automatically roll over your 401(k) into an IRA of its choosing.

Depending on the returns of that IRA or the fees that are charged, you could see that 401(k) nest egg whittled away to nothing through a combination of low returns and high fees. All the money you had withheld from your paycheck over the years, money that could have helped you out in your retirement, would just disappear. If you neglect your retirement savings and end up losing them, you may very well end up kicking yourself.

The Solution: Control Your Own Finances

If you want to make sure that you have enough money to retire on, you have to take control of your own finances and take an active interest in managing them. One of many ways to protect those retirement savings is by rolling over your 401(k) into a precious metals IRA. By investing in gold and silver, you are choosing assets that have stood the test of time.

For centuries, investors have chosen gold and silver as stores of wealth. They hold their value against inflation, maintaining their purchasing power over time, and during times of economic crisis they even rise in value.

A gold or silver IRA offers all the benefits of a traditional IRA but with the added security that gold and silver offer. Gold and silver IRAs are a hedge against inflation and against financial crisis. And with all the turmoil in financial markets indicating that another financial crisis is coming soon, now is the time to invest in gold and silver.

If you’re facing a decision about what to do with your 401(k), think about rolling it over into a gold or silver IRA. The protection it offers in keeping your retirement assets safe will ensure that you have peace of mind that you’ll be able to live out your golden years comfortably.