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A guide for job changers and retirees

Keep your retirement plan savings working for you

Career transitions—including retirement—can be stressful, exciting, or both. Your retirement plan is a critical part of your retirement savings, so make sure you know what your options are for your savings as you take your next step. We can help make it easier. Check out the information below, and if you’d like to talk with a specialist, we’re just a phone call away.

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Support to help make your decision easy to and through retirement

One-on-one guidance

Our specialists provide personalized support to help you make simple, smart choices about your account. You can schedule a call, and we’ll reach out at your convenience.

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Individualized investing

Choose from two John Hancock IRAs based on your investing style. Take control of your account, keep your savings growing tax deferred, and make your transition easy. Plus, we'll waive all sales charges.¹

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Retirement planner2

Your personalized planner features a simple, but powerful, picture to help you visualize and plan for the retirement you want. Sign in to your account to get started.

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Compare your options

When you change jobs or retire, you can choose what to do with the money you saved in your former employer’s plan. Good news: You have several options, and we can help you with them. Click the options below to explore which may be best for you, and call us with any questions.

Move to a John Hancock IRA

Move to a John Hancock IRA

With a John Hancock IRA, you can select your own investments—or have us manage your account for you. Both options are easy to open. No headaches, no hassles, no paperwork. Schedule a call to get started.

A good choice if you’d like to:

  • Keep your savings growing tax deferred
  • Create one place for all your eligible retirement savings
  • Invest in an account that isn’t tied to a job
  • Access an investment lineup similar to those in your retirement plan

Keep in mind:

  • A $1,000 minimum balance requirement may apply
  • Loans aren’t allowed from IRAs

Stay in your existing plan

Stay in your existing plan

This option will keep your savings growing tax deferred even after you’ve left your current employer.

A good choice if you’d like to:

  • Keep your current services
  • Stay with your current investment lineup, including the investments you own today
  • Continue your John Hancock relationship

Keep in mind:

  • You can no longer contribute to your account
  • Investment and withdrawal options are controlled by your former employer
  • You may not be able to take a loan
  • There may be a minimum balance required to stay in the plan

Move to another IRA or retirement plan

Move to another IRA or retirement plan

You can move your money to another employer’s plan or to another provider’s IRA. Both will keep your savings growing tax deferred, but there are differences.

A good choice if you’d like to:

  • Continue to save and invest while avoiding taxes and penalties
  • Gain access to new investment and service options
  • Make additional contributions to keep building savings

Keep in mind:

  • Not all employer plans allow you to combine accounts
  • Investment options depend on your new employer’s plan or the IRA you choose 
  • Loans aren’t allowed from IRAs
  • Some IRAs require a minimum balance

Take a cash distribution

Take a cash distribution

If you choose to take the cash, you’ll be subject to federal and state income taxes and a potential 10% early withdrawal penalty. 

Only worth considering if:

You have a serious need in the short term for money that can’t be met any other way

Keep in mind:

  • Partial cash distributions may be available from traditional (pretax) retirement plan accounts
  • Penalty-free IRA withdrawals and retirement plan distributions are available to cover certain expenses
There are advantages and disadvantages to all rollover options. You are encouraged to review your options to determine if staying in a retirement plan, rolling over to an IRA, or another option is best for you.

Our specialists are here for you

We want to help you understand and feel comfortable with the decisions you need to make. Our specialists can help when you’re ready to take the next step with your retirement savings. Schedule a callback at a time that’s convenient for you.

Schedule a callback

Want to roll your savings into an IRA?

We can help guide you through the decision and the process whenever you're ready—and we can do it all online!

Sign in to start rolling over my account

A few good reads

Fresh takes on planning, investing, and more—for beginners, seasoned savers, and everyone in between

April 5, 2024

How to roll over your 401(k) directly to an IRA

When you leave a job, you may be leaving behind a 401(k) account, and you’ll need to decide what to do with your money. We’ll help you understand your options and outline how you can combine your accounts into an IRA.
Read more

September 28, 2023

Five ways to make the most of your rollover IRA

Moving your money from an old workplace plan to a rollover IRA can make your retirement savings easier to manage and help you preserve important tax advantages. But once you know your way around your new account, there could be even more potential benefits in store.
Read more

October 18, 2023

Four key questions about opening an IRA

IRAs can play an important role in your retirement savings strategy. Here are four questions about opening an IRA.
Read more

You’ve got expertise in your corner—at no additional cost

Our specialists are experts at what they do. They’re also real people. They’re open and welcoming. They’re great teachers and great motivators. And they’re ready to help when you’re ready to take the next step with your retirement savings.

Schedule a callback

1 Other account and investment-related fees are applicable. 2 The projected retirement income estimates for your current John Hancock accounts, future contributions, employer contributions (if applicable), and other accounts set aside for retirement used in this calculator are hypothetical, for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute investment advice. Results are not guaranteed and do not represent the current or future performance of any specific account or investment. Due to market fluctuations and other factors, it is possible that investment objectives may not be met. Investing involves risks, and past performance does not guarantee future results.

Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. These products carry many individual risks, including some that are unique to each fund.

Clients should carefully consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To request a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other important information, visit jhinvestments.com.

Before investing, consider your investment objectives and John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC's (JHPFS's) fees. JHPFS's fees do not include the expenses of the underlying investments in your account.

Advice from John Hancock for the Managed IRA is provided as a fiduciary in the participant’s best interest.

John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC (JHPFS) is an affiliate of John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC. JHPFS is an SEC registered investment adviser that provides automated advisory services for clients by managing investments through the John Hancock Managed IRA program. Assets in a John Hancock Managed IRA will be held at Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, a registered broker-dealer, member FINRA, SIPC. John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC, 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116.

John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC is an SEC registered investment adviser. John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC, 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116.

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC offers administrative and/or recordkeeping services to sponsors and administrators of retirement plans. John Hancock Trust Company LLC, a New Hampshire non-depository trust company, provides trust and custodial services to such plans, offers an Individual Retirement Accounts product, and maintains specific Collective Investment Trusts. Group annuity contracts and recordkeeping agreements are issued by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), Boston, MA (not licensed in NY), and John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, Valhalla, NY. Product features and availability may differ by state. Securities are offered through John Hancock Distributors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC.

John Hancock Investment Management Distributors LLC is the principal underwriter and wholesale distribution broker-dealer for the John Hancock mutual funds, member FINRA, SIPC.

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