The forgotten account
401(k) & Employer Plans
Advice on the money inside your workplace plan — usually your largest account, and usually unadvised.
For most working households, the 401(k) is the biggest account they own and the one nobody looks at. It was set up during onboarding, the elections haven't changed since, and the fund menu has forty options with names that all sound the same. Meanwhile it quietly compounds — well or badly — for decades.
We advise on the plan you're actually in — its menu, its features, its quirks — and on every old plan you've left behind.
The at-separation fork
When you leave the employer, the plan has to go somewhere — including right where it is.
Stay in the plan
- Institutional pricing many IRAs can't match
- Stronger creditor protection in many cases
- Penalty-free access at 55 if you separate early
Roll it over
- One consolidated portfolio, easier to manage
- A full menu instead of forty preselected funds
- Company stock may deserve NUA treatment first — check before moving
The right answer is account-by-account — and whoever receives the rollover is not the neutral party to ask.
Three questions your 401(k) has been waiting for
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Are the onboarding defaults still deciding for you?
Most plans are set in week one and never touched: a default fund, a default rate — sometimes one point below the full match, which leaves free money on the table every payday. The first question is simply whether anyone has ever actually decided.
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Which of the forty funds are worth owning?
Every menu hides a few good, cheap funds among the closet-indexers and the expensive also-rans. We read your actual menu and set a mix that fits your household portfolio — not a generic model that ignores what you hold outside the plan.
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Roth or pre-tax — and says who?
The right split depends on your bracket now versus in retirement, not on a rule of thumb. High-income years often favor pre-tax; lower-bracket years often favor Roth — and the answer can change from one year to the next.
Probably your largest account. Probably never advised.
Put it to work
Bring us three things
- A recent statement from your current plan
- The fund menu — or just a login and permission
- Statements from any former employers' plans
Old plans count. Sometimes they're worth keeping; sometimes consolidating — we'll tell you which.
You leave with
- An allocation set inside your actual fund menu
- A contribution plan — amount, Roth split, full match captured
- An honest verdict on every old plan: stay, move, or consolidate
Sometimes the plan is worth staying in.
Rollover advice usually comes from whoever receives the rollover. Workplace plans can carry institutional pricing, stronger creditor protection, and penalty-free access at 55 — so "move it to an IRA" is a case-by-case answer, and we'll tell you when staying wins.
Ask about yours
A new client's 401(k) still held its onboarding defaults from eleven years earlier — a target-date fund set for the wrong decade and a contribution rate one point below the full match, which had quietly left money on the table every payday since. Two elections and twenty minutes fixed both; the review of three old employer plans found one worth keeping and two worth consolidating.
Hypothetical scenario for illustration. Not an actual client. Individual circumstances and results differ.
Kingsbury Financial Advisors
Kingsbury Financial Advisors is a full-service comprehensive financial planning and wealth management firm located in Tampa, Florida. Alongside our strategic partnership with the leading comprehensive financial planning firm Caitlin John Private Wealth management, we have all of the necessary resources to support our clients in conquering their financial goals.
What to expect
- 01 Introduction A short conversation about what prompted you to reach out. No preparation needed and nothing to sign.
- 02 Discovery We gather the full picture — accounts, obligations, timelines, and the goals behind them.
- 03 Your plan We walk you through a written plan together, including the trade-offs behind every recommendation.
- 04 Ongoing partnership Regular reviews, proactive tax and planning work, and a direct line when something changes.
Talk through your situation
True wealth is more than money.
Start with a conversation. No cost, no pressure, no obligation to continue.