45 percent of people who switch jobs before age 59½ cash out on their retirement plans. Perhaps sometimes this is necessary, especially if the reason why you cashed out was due to an unexpected job loss where no other sources of income were immediately available to you. Still many others do it without fully understanding the potential harm they are doing to their long-term retirement prospects. Right off the top, you’re giving up 20-40 percent of your money if you cash out on your plan to taxes and penalties. Moreover, you’re missing out on future compounding of that wealth....