If you are aware of the benefits of the 401k, then hopefully you have been keeping yours well funded before you decide to cash it out. You will want to make sure that you take full advantage of your employer’s matching funds if they offer them. You will also want to keep your money in the 401k as long as possible in order to let the money in it to grow. However, at some point you will need to withdrawal this money (hopefully when you are ready to retire).
If you are in a situation where you are not retiring, and do not want to rollover your money, but rather cashing out your 401k for any other reason, then you will probably want to place that money in some other type of investment. The worst thing that you can do is cash out and then let your money sit around in the bank and get eaten away by inflation. If you are not using the money for retirement, then you should look into your options to rollover the money into another 401k or Roth IRA plan.
Photo by robertrazrblogAssuming that you are ready to cash out your 401k though, you will need to know how quickly you will be able to do this. The speed at which you will be able to get your money out will depend on how much you have in the account. If you have a large amount (hopefully you do), then it may actually take a little longer to get your money. This is because your broker will want to get the best price for you rather than unload so much stock at one time. Your money will get to you, it will just be a more gradual process. Remember, do not cash out your money from your 401k until you absolutely need to. If possible leave it where it is or do a 401k rollover to a new employer.
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