Retirement??? WOW...?

Question

My husband and I just found out recently that his last job of 13yrs, one he was laid off from abt 3 yrs ago that he has a retirement type account thru Smith Barney of about $20000.00. We came across this totally by accident as we were going thru some of our legal papers. We moved abt 3 yrs ago and Smith Barney did not have our forwarding address so we have not received anything.

I am not good at investing period, all of our other investments/retirements are thru our jobs and are handled that way - I have no idea what to do with this money? I want to roll it over into something but not sure exactly what? Any suggestions???

Answer 1

Just contact them.

Answer 2

It really depends on your age, expected retirement age, and whether you are ok with risk.  But regardless of that, first thing you should do is to roll it over to a Rollover IRA account.  Taking out the cash would cost you a lot in taxes.

If you are going to retire soon, like within 5 years, I definitely recommend you invest in something that is low risk in your new Rollover IRA account, such as government funds, bond funds, or CDs if they are available.

If you are not retiring soon, and is somewhat ok with taking risk, then index funds are great options, especially with the relative low market price right now.

If you're ok with a higher risk, and have time on your side, then go with something riskier -- specialty funds (real estate is a steal right now, or how about energy companies?), mid-cap or small-cap funds, or even individual stocks.

The best advice, though, is to talk to a professional.  Whatever firm you open your Rollover IRA account at should offer this kind of service.  Yes, I generally know what I'm doing, given I've traded stocks and funds since 1999 both as a day trader as well as in my retirement accounts, but I'm by no means trained in this topic... That's my disclaimer :)  Hope I brought up some topics for you to research into that you didn't know of, though.

Answer 3

You want to " roll it over"... log on to Fidelity or another broker... get a phone number and talk to a rep...they can handle 90% of the paperwork... it will take a few weeks or so, but you will end up with a nice traditional IRA that you can manage on-line.  The same procedure as your 401 plans through. work...picking and selecting funds ...BUT...the amount of available funds will be in the thousands !! and if you are so inclined, you can trade stocks or ETFs in the new IRA.  

Seeing as it is " found money"...you may want to put a good deal of it into " aggressive" funds , maybe some sectors that are doing well: international , metals/materials, agricultural chems.....and get some great returns for awhile.

Otherwise just look at your 401s and see which of your funds are doing well...and make them your IRA selections.