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Company-sponsored 401K plans are popular tools for retirement planning, since deposits are pre-tax and often employers will match part of your contribution. But what happens if you leave the company?

"A lot of times what happens is when people leave their 401Ks in their current plans, they tend to forget about those plans, they don't stay on top of them and make the regular rebalancing and pay attention to the investments the way they should," said Charles Schwab Financial Consultant Kenneth Polley.

Rather than let your money sit there, Polley says you have several options. For one, you can simply cash out the account, but there may be consequences.

"Most times that's a bad choice because you are going to pay taxes on all that withdrawal, plus if you are under the age of 59 and a half you are going to pay an early withdrawal penalty," Polley said.

Another option is to roll the money from your old company's 401K directly into your new employer's plan -- a lateral move which avoids penalties and taxes. But rather than stay tied to a group plan, financial advisors say you may want to go it alone with an IRA or individual retirement account.

"It really opens up the amount of choices that you have, the different investment options," Polley said. "In addition to that, you can get more advice most times with an IRA account than you were getting with your existing 401K."

But here's where it gets tricky. Traditional IRAs are pre-tax, like your 401K. While you won't get taxed on the rollover, you will get taxed when you start to make withdrawals. ROTH IRAs are after tax dollars, which means you won't be taxed on withdrawals or your earnings. But since the money in your original 401K had not been taxed, it will be taxed now when you make the conversion.

While a ROTH may be a better choice in the long run, the conversion can lead to a big shock at tax time. Since the amount you're converting, say $20,000, is added to your income for that year, you could end up in a higher tax bracket.

"There have been instances where when we are preparing taxes, clients have taken distributions and received that 1099R from that 401K and it added to their gross income. So yes, you could be bumped up," said Wilma Hayes of H&R Block.

Hayes recommends sitting down with your tax preparer early in the year to figure out how much you should have withheld to soften the blow in April. Bottom line is whichever you choose -- ROTH, traditional or another 401K -- Uncle Sam will get his share.