Moving 403b to an IRA

[PandaBear]

I have an old 403b from a previous employment. I was planning on moving it to an IRA with someone like Vanguard. Is there anything I should consider before doing this?
I would just like to have less accounts in different places.

 

[Bigdawg]

I have an old 403b from a previous employment. I was planning on moving it to an IRA with someone like Vanguard. Is there anything I should consider before doing this?
I would just like to have less accounts in different places.

If you move your 403b from on org to Vanguard you will have the same amount of accounts just now with a different organization. I am doing the same with a 401K. Moving it from a Principal to Vanguard. More choices and less fee's.

 

[Ian S]

IIRC, a 403b may or may not have more protection than an IRA in the event you were to declare bankruptcy. That said, I did the same thing a few years ago but the key there was that they were changing over to a new set of investment vehicles and had a month or more time period where your account was essentially frozen. That did not appeal to me so I made the switch. If you do the switch, make sure to get all the historical data you'd like to preserve off the old 403b website before you make the change. You might not be able to afterwards.

 

[travelover]

Some 403 and 401 plans have a stable market fund that pays more interest than you can get in a short term bond. That can be attractive as there is less risk and more earnings.

 

[Markola]

I like simplicity, too, but we are headed toward rolling our T-IRAs back into our work plans. Those plans are pretty good, with low fees and the ability to buy Vanguard funds. However, the main reason is that ERISA plans (401k, 401b type plans at work) have more liability protection in our state (MN) than IRAs. Here is an article about that and, within it, is a link to a state-by-state analysis of how protected IRAs are, or not, from lawsuits and creditors. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/092215/how-protect-your-retirement-lawsuits.asp