I have several old 401k's from previous employers that I would now like to roll over to my current employers 401k plan. The reason I never rolled them over previously is because I wasn't confident at the time of switching employers if it was the best move financially. I've switched employers several times throughout the past 8 years during some volatile market conditions.

Thinking more logically now. The mantra has always been, it really doesn't matter what the market is like until it's time to pull your money out for retirement. It's always fluctuating up and down, but we're in it for the long term.

That said. Does the same logic apply when rolling over older 401k's into a current 401 as I'm proposing. Does it matter if the market is up or down so long as you're not actually cashing out?

As an example, I have one account that is down about 13% over the past quarter. As we know, the market has taken a dive over the past month or so. Would I be better off waiting until these accounts recover some and then roll over or just get it done now?

Any insight and or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!

don't do a Roth....they will tax it

Roll it into an IRA. Most employer 401K accounts don't allow you to use investments other than what the plan is restricted to. If you roll your old 401K into an IRA associated with folks say similar to Merrill Lynch or the same investment group that you are using for your current employer. Usually an investment company will not let you have access to the investment consultants if you have a company 401K. If you roll over to an IRA you have unlimited use to an account consultant and are able to invest in all the different investment options they have, which is usually way more than the company 401K program.

It depends on the current 401k's rules about rolling in outside investments. Some allow it, some don't. If they don't allow it, you'll need to roll the old 401ks into an IRA.

As to you question about waiting, if you're buying substantially the same investments in the rollover account as what you currently hold, it shouldn't make that much of a difference. The old 401k accounts will sell your holding, transfer the money to the new rollover account, and then you'll buy investments through the new account. This whole process should take about a week. The market shouldn't change that much within a week, but you never know.

^ This. With an IRA you can invest in almost unlimited options but a 401K limits you to a few mutual funds. Get with Vanguard and they can walk you through the process and have very low cost mutual funds to choose from. Pay attention to the fund cost (management fee) as that can eat away at your returns.

Good advice. I rolled a 401K from a plant closing into a Vanguard IRA years ago.I would leave it in their money market fund for a bit until the smoke from this market meltdown settles.

as suggested above, do not roll your "old" 401k into a "new" employer's 401k program.
doing so limits your options and in some cases can increase costs (which decreases your returns).

instead, roll your "old" 401k into traditional IRA at any of the Big Three: Fidelity, Vanguard, or T.RowePrice.

all three offer a variety of low cost investment alternatives, and from within your IRA you can purchase equity funds, index funds, bond funds, ETF's, CD's, etc.

ar-jedi

ps
one thing:
be VERY careful if your "old" 401k plan mails you a live check representing your 401k monies.  treat that like plutonium.   you have just 60 days (check me on that) to roll that entire amount into a IRA before that money will be declared a "distribution" and once that happens you will be in a world of hurt (aka "shit") with the IRS regarding taxes and early-withdrawal penalties.  so don't do that.  the ideal way to handle this is an electronic transfer between your "old" 401k custodian and your IRA custodian.  this way there is no live check, and no problems with the IRS.