Thanks for the advice. I am changing jobs in a week and wondering what to do with my 401K. I think I will either roll it over to the new 401K or leave it where it is. I was considering a Roth IRA but I don’t need to get the estate planning benefits just yet. Great advice!

An IRA — particularly a Roth IRA, has important estate planning advantages and succession advantages over a 401(k). For example, where your heirs may be able to stretch an inherited IRA over their entire life expectancy, your 401(k) administrator may require your heirs to empty the account within five years – potentially costing your heirs decades of tax-deferred or tax-free growth.

Previously, if you were in a profession subject to frequent lawsuits (e.g., OB-GYNs, surgeons, etc.), or if you were worried about creditor protection, you stayed in a 401(k), since the 401(k) recieved additional creditor protection over the IRA (depending on state law).

Not so much any more – a recent court decision upheld the argument that IRA balances designed to provide reasonable retirement income also recieved a similar protection from creditors.

The only argument to stay in the 401(k), then, would be if you got exceptionally low fees in the 401(k) not available in an IRA (unlikely, if you index and know where to look), and were simply not worried about your heirs.