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[rwillba]

Hello,

My wife and I are planning to move from the U.S. to New Zealand in a year. This plan has been in the works for some time, and my former employer had a long waiting period before I could become vested in the company match portion of my 401(k). Knowing I would lose most of the match, hence most of the benefit, I opted out of the plan to save money for our moving and startup expenses in New Zealand. I've just taken a new job, and this company offers immediate vesting in their portion of the 401(k) contribution. Still, the amount of money in the fund would be limited after only a year. I figure the corporate match portion to run about $4000. It is free money, though, so I'm having a hard time deciding what to do. I am 33 years old, and don't want that money tied up until I turn 59 1/2 while the rest of my retirement funds are overseas. So, my question:
-Can I move my 401(k) out of the country and into another investment vehicle without having to pay the tax penalty for early withdrawal?

Thanks for your time.

[beadvised1]

the only ooption you have based on your criteria is to move the 401K funds into a Qualified IRA. If you access the money before the guidelines you will pay Income Taxes and penalties on it.

If you do not need the money, I would recommend considering moving it to an IRA and you can manage it from anywhere in the world.