If you knew when you were going to receive the biggest paycheck in your life, you would probably do some planning and try to figure out the best options for what to do with the money. Rolling over a 401(k) to an IRA is a similar scenario. And yet, after saving for decades, many people will roll over this large balance without giving it much thought. To help ensure you make informed decisions about your hard-earned savings, I’ve outlined five considerations to keep in mind if you’re considering an IRA rollover.

Control

One of the main things a rollover provides is greater control over and flexibility with your retirement assets. An IRA allows you to access a wider variety of investment options and then control the sale, rebalancing, and allocation of those investments across accounts and time. This control may allow you to invest in a way that better aligns with your long-term goals.

Taxes

As with any financial decision, it’s important to understand what the tax ramifications of a rollover may be. In the case of a direct rollover, if you roll the assets from your traditional 401(k) account into a traditional IRA, you generally won’t pay any taxes. This allows your assets to continue growing tax deferred until a later date. That later date could be age 73, when you need to start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs). You could also withdraw assets earlier than age 73 but remember that distributions are viewed as income and would be taxed at your current income tax rate. One last tax-planning consideration is whether to convert all or part of your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Taxes would be incurred at the time of conversion, but opting for a Roth would then allow assets to grow tax free into the future.

Guidance

Another consideration with a rollover is the type of guidance you’d like to receive. 401(k)s are wonderful savings vehicles, but they may not offer the level of personalized advice and guidance you need or want. Rolling over an IRA and gaining some level of advice through a financial advisor may provide a number of benefits. Whether it’s figuring out how best to invest for a specific goal, considering the tax ramifications of financial decisions, creating an income plan for retirement, or just having a person available to help manage emotions during volatile periods, the value of rolling over a 401(k) into an IRA goes beyond dollars and cents.

Planning

Part of the guidance that comes with an IRA spills over into being able to create a more holistic financial plan. I mentioned creating a retirement income plan, but there are a number of other areas where having a consistent plan is important. For example, consolidating old 401(k) accounts or other IRAs into one account may make it easier to review and update beneficiary designations as your estate plan evolves. Additionally, a 401k plan may be paid out at the time of death in a lump sum. This may not be optimal from a tax perspective, and it could also hinder your legacy planning goals.

Inertia

Finally, it’s important to remember that for busy humans, the easiest thing to do is nothing. This ease has led to the existence of an estimated 29.2 million forgotten 401(k) accounts totaling $1.65 trillion dollarsi. Obviously, this inertia is incredibly powerful and has probably affected the retirement plans of many Americans. If nothing else, I would hope that these figures prompt you to make sure you haven’t left assets behind in an old employer’s retirement plan. I hope these considerations help you better understand whether rolling over old 401(k) assets into an IRA may be in your best interests, not just from the standpoint of consolidation and ease, but also to put you in a better position to pursue your long-term financial goals.