Can I protect my Nest Egg while Working?

Sue and Mark from Chicago ask if they can protect their 401k’s while they are still working with their current employer.

Is it possible to protect my 401k from market risk while still working?

• We want to avoid another 2008 like market crash.
• Years ago, we could not move or protect our 401k’s while still working, but today we have options.
• If we are over 59 ½ we can move the money from a 401k to an IRA in most cases.

What would another 2008 type crash look like to our retirement?

• It could set us back years with respect to our retirement plans.
• It could force us to really sacrifice in terms of our standard of living.
• It is completely avoidable and unnecessary to have that much risk while going into retirement.

What would the process look like to protect our 401k while still working?

• We would look at doing an in-service distribution through the 401k.
• We would move a portion of the 401k assets into an IRA using a protection tool to safeguard against market risk.
• We would still contribute to the 401k while working to get the benefits of a tax deducted contribution.

Sue and Mark from Chicago wrote to Ryan to ask him if it was possible to protect their 401k’s while they were still working at their company.  They were concerned that we were heading into another 2008 type crash and that their money was going to be lost in the market. 

In 2008 Mark and Sue were devastated by the loses that they incurred in the market.  They are now comfortable with what they have saved and are looking to protect what they have instead of growing it.  They wanted to know how, if possible, they could make sure that this did not happen. 

Ryan explained that there is a very common strategy that he uses with his clients to safeguard a portion of their 401k plan against market risk.  An in-service withdrawal allows the 401k plan participant to move a portion of their 401k assets into an IRA.  Once the funds are in the IRA a protection tool can be used to make sure that the individual’s assets are given protection from market risk. 

This is one of the many strategies that Ryan and SFP use to protect their client’s assets as they approach retirement.  If this strategy looks interesting to you or if you would like to learn more, you can reach directly to Ryan or any member of his team and they would be more than happy to send you out some information, or even set up a quick call with Ryan to see if this strategy or any other strategies would be a good fit for you.