401k Plans

• Employer-based plans, like 401k plans, are not subject to judgments. They are wholly exempt from creditors. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act protects retirement accounts from being transferred or assigned to a third party. This protects the retirement plan from being taken away from you. It acts as a way to protect you from your employer's creditors as well, since the account is a trust account.
  
  

IRAs

• IRAs are individual retirement accounts. They are not tied to your employer. You contribute money to the account and invest it among the available investments in the account. These contributions are made after tax is deducted from your paycheck. Then, you may deduct the contribution from your taxes when you file for traditional IRAs or forgo the deduction for Roth accounts. At retirement, you withdraw the money and pay income tax on those withdrawals for traditional IRAs, and you make tax-free withdrawals from the Roth account. IRAs are not protected in the same way that 401k plans are, however. The court will decide, in your case, whether the funds are to be seized and taken to pay back your creditors. However, IRAs are protected in the case of bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention And Consumer Protection Act of 2005 protects up to $1 million of your IRA funds.
  
  

Annuities

• Annuities are insurance policies. Money is contributed to the account on an after-tax basis. Money is then withdrawn at retirement and all investment gains are taxed at ordinary income tax rates. Contributions are not taxed. Annuities are regulated at the state level. As such, the protections you receive are state-specific. For example, Florida protects all of your annuity's proceeds while Colorado offers no protections at all.
  
  

Social Security

• Social Security cannot be taken from you to satisfy a judgment. Your Social Security payment is exempt from creditor collections. If your creditor attempts to collect your Social Security income, you must inform the creditor that it is in violation of Section 207 of the Social Security Act.