Face it, after reading just these few sentences, you're already singing the tune in your head.

If you're a typical job hopper, though, one thing that's probably not in your head is your old 401(k) account from some job you had ages ago. It's probably not in your head because, the minute it gets there, you're burdened by the question of "Should it stay or should it go?"

Believe it or not, there are a series of straight-forward heuristics you can use to determine the answer (see "7 Rollover Tips for Those with Money Still in Former Employer 401k Plans," FiduciaryNews.com, March 22, 2016).

Oddly, though a consensus appears to exist within the retirement adviser community on this issue, we seldom see that consensus reported. Instead, we're confronted with the never-ending fee-based meme (e.g., you can't beat the low "fees" in those institutional mutual funds found only in a 401(k) plan near you).

Of course, this is nothing more than a variation on the theme of mislabeling mutual fund expense ratios as "fees" (but we've gone there plenty of times before).

It turns out the primary issue with old 401(k) money isn't the fees, it's the control. Think about this.

The farther you get from your last date of employment, the fewer remaining ties you have to a former employer. More and more of the people you worked with have left. The policies and procedures you were once intimately familiar with have evolved several times over. Heck, the company might not even be based in America anymore, so you retirement dollars are now quoted in some foreign currency.

With greater control comes greater flexibility. For example, let's assume you can't get that same institutional class of the mutual fund your old 401(k) plan uses. When you roll your money out, you don't have to limit yourself to that fund family. In fact, you don't have to use a mutual fund at all. You can now hire a personal money manager to buy and sell stocks and bonds on your behalf. Can't do that with a 401(k) (usually).

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Of course paid professionals would recommend you roll your money out of an old 401(k) plan. They don't get paid if you keep it in there. It's a conflict-of-interest."

The response to this is simple: It's not personal, it's business.

Someone's going to get paid. If I think I can do a better job for you, I'm going to always tell you to hire me, not the other guy. And, if I don't think I can do a better job, then maybe I shouldn't be in the business.

Is this a conflict-of-interest? No, it's competition. A conflict-of-interest occurs if my recommendation causes me to make money while you do something that is not in your best interests.

If I can make money and you get more value, that's a "win-win" scenario. No court in this land would call this a conflict-of-interest.

And, if courts in any land begin calling honest competition a "conflict-of-interest," then we might all ask ourselves "should we stay or should we go"?