What do I do with retirement accounts from old jobs?

If the client needs all or some of the money now, then we see how much more income tax they'd pay with this new money.

If the client doesn't need the money now, and the bank isn't forcing an immediate and complete withdrawal of their account, then I ask the client to compare the account performance to other retirement accounts offered at other banks. I simply ask, how much money did you put in, what's todays value, and what are the bank/management fees?

If the client is unhappy with the current account's performance as it relates to its fees, then they should tell the current bank to transfer that money from one retirement account to another retirement account directly. If the current bank sends that money directly to my client, then they must deposit it into another retirement account within 60 days. (This is called a roll-over).