Does it makes sense to ask... how am I doing ?

[tinapbeana]

Originally Posted by syracusa

Actually that employer's plan was not a 401K.
It is called Georgia ORP, I worked for the state. Is it the same thing?

i'm not sure but that sounds like it might be a pension plan of some sort, which means it'll probably have different regulations. i would recommend you talk to the company that oversees the plan, your personal accountant, or both. they should be able to let you know what your options are regarding this type of plan.

[Broken Arrow]

Originally Posted by syracusa

Actually that employer's plan was not a 401K.
It is called Georgia ORP, I worked for the state. Is it the same thing?

Are you a teacher or professor?

This website might provide a clue as to what your options are. One option include:

You may request a direct transfer of your account to a qualified plan, such as an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). As long as the transfer is made directly from one vendor to another, no taxes will be withheld from your account. Be sure you understand the terms of your ORP contract before you make a transfer. Some accounts impose a surrender fee on an account withdrawal.

...which sounds about right. Still, I would simply talk to a representative from your employer just to be sure.

[syracusa]

Thanks a lot. I already have and it looks like I can rollover the money into a rollover IRA that I have already opened.

My husband suggests that I should leave this ORP plan as is, not roll over anything and just open a new Roth IRA and start contributing to it, if I want.

[creditcardfree]

An ORP (Optional Retirement Plan) is a qualified plan under codes 401(a) and 403(a). Because it is a qualified plan, as you found out, you can roll it over into your current rollover ira, a new rollover ira (from which you could convert to a roth), or leave it where it is.

Is the account at a major investment firm, such as Fidelity, Vanguard or TIAA-CREF? If it is, then you at least won't have problems contacting them regarding your account. Personally, I like simplicity, so I would roll it over into any existing rollover account, just to combine the funds. That, of course, is assuming you like the investment.

Your husbands suggestions are fine. You don't have to roll the money and convert it to start investing in a Roth.

[syracusa]

Thanks again!

[zetta]

I've recently been trying to educate myself on investing in mutual funds (which is what you will be doing inside your IRA or ROTH). At first it's hard to separate the "get rich quick" books from the more conservative and sensible ones, so here are a few reasonable ones that I've found:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money with Mutual Funds
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Investing
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Rich (great for goal-setting!)
Common Sense on Mutual Funds

I'm still not quite comfortable picking my own funds, and think it's worth using a full-service broker when you're first getting started. You pay more upfront, but the advice you get could make the difference between being being comfortable or poor in retirement.

If you are still in your 30's or 40's, I think the funds in your ORP that are only getting 6% or 8% return are likely too conservative.

[syracusa]

Originally Posted by zetta

I've recently been trying to educate myself on investing in mutual funds (which is what you will be doing inside your IRA or ROTH). At first it's hard to separate the "get rich quick" books from the more conservative and sensible ones, so here are a few reasonable ones that I've found:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money with Mutual Funds
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Investing
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Rich (great for goal-setting!)
Common Sense on Mutual Funds

I'm still not quite comfortable picking my own funds, and think it's worth using a full-service broker when you're first getting started. You pay more upfront, but the advice you get could make the difference between being being comfortable or poor in retirement.

If you are still in your 30's or 40's, I think the funds in your ORP that are only getting 6% or 8% return are likely too conservative.

Yes, DH said we are going to have to change those because they have not done too well. But...does it mean that everytime I move the money into a different fund - I will pay a fee?

It seems like this is eays to do. Fidelity has all this online and I have seen some features that allow you to move the funds. Is this called "managing your own money"?
In any case, I still don't know for sure how to do it because I haven't done it before. DH will have to do it himself...I am so insecure when it comes to this financial/investing stuff.
Like I said before, I grew up in a "go to work/retire/government pays pension/the end" kind of world. That's what I saw my parents do.
But DH used to be a financial planner and he seems to know about all this stuff - so it will be up to him.

[zetta]

While you're lucky that your DH has a financial planning background, I would still encourage you to educate yourself on the basics. All women should be involved in both the day to day finances and the long term investing. At a minimum, you should learn how mutual funds, IRA's, and ROTH IRA's work, and understand how much you will need to retire and your investing plan for getting there.

You don't have to stay with Fidelity to do a rollover of the money from ORP to an IRA -- you can set up your IRA with either Fidelity, a discount broker such as Scottrade, or a full service broker such as Edward Jones. Fidelity would probably cost you the least in fees, a discount broker would give you the most number of funds to pick from (I'm talking thousands here), and a full service broker would be able to look at your overall picture and give you advice on which funds to pick.

"Managing your own money" means different things to different people. Some would say you are managing your own money just by moving into an IRA. Others would insist that you should skip mutual funds altogether and research and buy individual stocks -- given your novice status I would stick with mutual funds for now.

[ren]

Fidelity has some very nice target retirement funds, if you're worried about fees from buying and selling. I have my 401k in a similar product and it's been good to me.