rolling over a 401(k) from ex employer into an IRA...

[IcyPeas]

12. you gave me 2 great things to consider which I was not aware of.

One way to save is to have the company set up two IRAs - one they manage with the money you don't need for 5-10 years and the other for the cash you want to withdraw which you self-manage by keeping it in money-market funds (cash). Then you won't be paying them their fee to manage your cash.

and

One big thing you should learn quickly - I didn't. ROTH IRAs can be great. When most people retire, their income drops, especially before social security kicks in. That is a great time to move chunks of money from your IRA to a ROTH. Once a ROTH has been open for 5 years, all the money it earns plus all the money you put in can be removed without being taxed. The downside is that the money you move is taxed when you move it from IRA to ROTH IRA. However, if your income is low, your taxes are low or zilch and so the moved money is not taxed or taxed little because your income is so small. When I retired, we lived on saved money for a couple of years before I could get SS and before withdrawing from my IRA. I thought it was so neat that I had to pay no taxes. But I could have moved thousands from my IRA to a ROTH and paid no taxes or tens of thousands and paid little in taxes. Note,whatever you do - even if you decide to wait before doing anything, open a ROTH IRA somewhere and minimally fund it ASAP. Above I mentioned that 5 year rule on ROTHS. It doesn't matter if it has $100 in it for those 5 years then you suddenly put in $500,000. It meets the 5 year rule as I understand it.

thank you very much