Quote:
Originally Posted by lewdog
Nothing ****ed at all! You're saving, and that's the important part.
There's no reason you can't consolidate all your 401k's from previous employers to an IRA of your choosing. Easier to manage your money for many if they're together and once rolled over you can dictate how the money is invested, instead of what your employer offered (which usually has limited options). I'd be doing that if you haven't already.
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Agreed, I strongly advise against keeping inactive 401ks from former employers and old IRAs separate. When you consolidate into one IRA you can manage things more easily, and don't need to worry about being charged different fees at 3 different places. You have a full buffet of options when you are in control.
You have the choice to roll these into your current 401k, but this is not advisable because you are limited to whatever funds that company offers, and they usually have higher expense ratios than if you have it elsewhere. A best case scenario would be that they do have a terrific choice of funds that match your objectives, but they are still more expensive annually.
Additionally, when you retire and a required to take Required minimum distributions, having to withdraw from 3 separate places complicates the calculation. If you only have 1 merged account, they will tell you exactly what you need to withdraw, so you don't run the risk of having an insufficient RMD penalty.