Retirement plan decisions made easy
Drill Down: The decisions you'll have to make
You do have to make some decisions, however, and that scares away a lot of people. But don’t worry, I’ll make the decisions easy for you. Your first key decision is whether to set up a 401k account at all, and if so, whether it should be a regular 401k or a Roth 401k. Then you must decide how much to invest. You have current needs, and you also have investment alternatives such as an IRA, a college savings account, and cash stuffed into a mattress. Later on, I’ll help you figure out how much to contribute.
You will have to make some investment decisions. When you leave your current employer to go to work for someone else, you’ll have to decide what to do with your old 401k. The choice is simple, but you have to make sure that you do it right to avoid excess taxes. I’ll explain that later.
You may consider taking out a loan from your 401k plan, or making a hardship withdrawal. I will help you understand when you should take either of those actions. Death and divorce are two sad topics that should be considered when you set up your 401k. The law is often not what you expect regarding 401k plans, so pay attention here.
When you retire, you’ll have some decisions to make about withdrawing your money. This is the fun time: spending! Again, I’ll explain the decisions you have to make for your 401k withdrawal, and which ones work best. Again, all these decisions scare some people, but I’m going to make it easy for you. I’m going to walk you through all of the steps, holding your hand. I’ll help you figure out how much to contribute, what to do with your old 401k, and how to make the best withdrawal decisions. Relax. It will be a great start toward financial security.
Please close this window to return to the main lesson page.
You are not logged in. Log in or create an account.
Click here to sign up for our monthly newsletter delivered via email.
» Lesson 1: What the Heck is a 401k, and What’s So Great About It?
Lesson 2: Contributions to Your 401k
Lesson 3: Investments “Cook Book” Approach
Lesson 4: Investments: How Investments Work
Lesson 5: Loans and Hardship Withdrawals from Your 401k
Lesson 9: Your 401k, Your Other Assets, and Your Life
The 401k ebook is available in text, audio, and video formats. The current selected format is audio. You may also switch to the text or video formats by clicking on the icons at the top of the main lesson page.