Millions of retirement savers may actually lose money by not rolling over assets from 401(k) plans to IRAs, according to research from the American Action Forum, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit think tank.

Meghan Milloy, director of financial services policy for the forum, which promotes free market solutions in the effort to reduce the federal government’s footprint, recently posted an argument showing retirement savers could collectively lose $4.2 billion each year by not rolling over assets to an IRA.

That flies in the face of a core rationale behind the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule: that the cost of managing 401(k) assets is inherently cheaper than costs charged on IRA accounts.

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Nick Thornton

Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.