Two top tips for workplace retirement savings plans

Rollover your workplace retirement plan investments from a former employer into your IRA.
A surprisingly large percentage of individuals who change jobs (either voluntarily or involuntarily) leave their retirement plan money - 401(k), 403(b), 457 plans - with their former employer. This may not be wise because most such plans offer a very limited range of investment choices and many plan investment choices range from undistinguished to pathetic. There may be circumstances where keeping your money in a former employer's plan is okay. But if you are comfortable managing your investments on your own through your investment advisor, rolling the money over into an IRA is probably a better thing to do.

If you're over age 59 1/2, you might be able to move your workplace retirement plan investments into an IRA.
It's really a shame how many workers are stuck with a pitiful retirement savings plan, a 401(k) plan for example. Sadly, several of the financial services companies that most aggressively solicit 401(k) plans to smaller and medium-sized companies offer abysmal investment choices. The executives who saddle their employees with such plans should be pilloried, but I digress.

If you're stuck with a mediocre plan at work, there may be a glimmer of hope. Many, but not all plans allow workers who are age 59 1/2 to roll over their workplace retirement plan investments into an IRA of the employee's choosing while continuing to participate in their company's plan. If you 're over age 59 1/2, you're unhappy with your plan choices, and you're comfortable with the greater individual choice offered by an IRA, ask your plan administrator if you can do an IRA rollover while still participating in the plan.