When you leave employment, either voluntarily or not, you will need to roll over your 401k plan to a new account within 60 days of your departure. Failure to do so may lead to high management fees charged to your plan as well as possible penalties.
The concept of rollover may not be so clear. To define, it is a transfer of your 401k plan from your previous employer to your new one and make some necessary changes depending on the policies of the new company. In case of unemployment, the account can be transferred to a private plan. This process isn’t really complicated or requires additional cost. You only need to take heed of the time frame given to you else you will face the consequences of being charged of fees which will eat up your savings in due time.
Never cash out your account with the intention of restarting it later! You will not only face heavy fines from the brokerage house you will be fined, penalized and taxed by the IRS for early withdrawal of retirement savings. It’s best if you just leave that money alone until you retire. All you have to think is that you are contributing to your retirement and you will not see that money until you reach that age.
When you have located a new account holder to manage your 401k contact their transfer department and have them roll your old account into their new one. Because the plan holder is taking care of this transaction you avoid all fees associated with the money and you avoid taxes and penalties because the money was never withdrawn, just rolled over into a new account.
The most important things to remember is that you must transfer your 401k in the right time frame and that you let the managing companies complete the process. This saves you from facing fines or taxes and it allows you to keep saving for your retirement with little or no effort.
Now, you should look into a 401k rollover to IRA for more information. You can find more tips and suggestions at 401k rollover school.