Employer Plans · Practical tool
Old 401(k) options worksheet
Compare four choices using actual plan documents, costs and unanswered questions.
Gather your current plan's fee disclosure, summary plan description and distribution notice. Obtain equivalent information for a new plan or IRA. Record the document and date beside each option. Unknown information is a task to verify, not evidence that an option has no cost or restriction.
The worksheet compares keeping the old plan, moving to an accepting new plan, using an IRA and taking a cash distribution. For the first three, a known annual fee estimate plus a known investment expense ratio produces an estimated annual cost at the entered constant balance. A missing field leaves the estimate incomplete.
For cashing out, enter a separately prepared estimate of total income tax and any additional early-distribution tax attributable to the transaction. Withholding is a tax payment and is not added again as another tax cost. If final tax is unknown, the after-tax cash result remains unknown.
Compare features beside the numbers
Record investment choices, services, withdrawal access, restrictions, creditor-protection questions and tax-planning considerations. Verify any legal protection with an appropriate professional; this worksheet does not determine your protection under federal or state law.
The worksheet produces a comparison and a list of missing numeric facts. It does not score the alternatives or recommend a rollover. Review the four-options guide before acting, especially if the account includes employer stock, after-tax contributions, Roth balances or an outstanding loan.
This calculator code runs in your browser without transmitting or tracking entries; general website analytics are separate. Reset restores blank comparison fields. A reload resets the examples; browser form-restoration behavior may vary. Export a copy if you want to keep it, and avoid entering account numbers or other personal identifiers.
