Eighty Percent of People Seek Advice When Doing a Rollover

Eighty percent of defined contribution (DC) participants speak with someone before rolling assets from their 401(k) plan to an individual retirement account (IRA), the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute found in a survey.

“It is clear that the decision to move their assets is an important decision and, as such, most people look to another person for guidance or validation of their decision,” says Matthew Drinkwater, assistant vice president at the Institute. Fifty-eight percent of these people rely on a professional adviser when making this decision, Drinkwater notes.

The main reasons why people do the rollovers are: to gain more control over their assets, to seek out investment options that could generate higher returns, and to consolidate assets.

Whether or not a participant keeps their assets in the plan or rolls it over to an IRA depends on the strength of their relationship with the plan provider, according to the Institute. However, only 11% of participants say they have a strong relationship with the plan’s provider.