I have around $3M in a Merrill lynch account that is employee sponsored 401K. I don’t work at the company anymore and they recently limited the fund options to the point where I feel like I am loosing out on gains because of the limited selection. My worry is that if I roll over to a pre tax IRA, I will lose the asset protection from creditors employee sponsored 401Ks have. Merrill lynch does have a self directed brokerage option where I can move some of my 401K money into that brokerage and start investing in ETFs/individual stocks, but I don’t know if the self directed brokerage is considered employee sponsored still. If not, I might as well just roll the 401K into a better company like Vanguard or E*TRADE.
Self directed brokerage is still inside 401k, so will have same protections.
Good to know, I’ll double check with Merrill as well
better to rollover to a 401k if you ever plan on doing a back door roth IRA - look up “pro rata rule”
Why not roll it into your PayPal 401k?
Idk I like keeping the accounts separate and I only have worked at 3 employers so I don’t have that many 401K accounts.
Check your state laws. Some states see Qualified accounts as one and the same.
Check out the broker link. It allows to invest 401k on anything. https://www.cordantwealth.com/should-i-use-the-intel-brokeragelink-account/
Broker link seems like an option given to Intel employees using fidelity and the equivalent for employee sponsored Merrill lynch is self directed brokerage. Still unsure if the self directed brokerage for Merrill lynch is considered employee sponsored. May need to give them a call