There is a widely held belief that creditors and lawsuits can’t touch retirement accounts—but that is not always true.

Reality:Whether retirement accounts are safe depends on a range of factors including the type of account, type of creditor, state of residence, whether the account owner seeks bankruptcy protection and whether he/she has trusts that provide additional security.

What is typically protected:Assets in 401(k)s and other qualified ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) employer plans are usually completely protected from most creditors. The same applies to IRAs that were created via rollovers from ERISA accounts and that have never been commingled with other funds. But there are exceptions:The IRS can reach these assets if there’s a tax lien…and a spouse could get a share of them in a divorce—a spouse is considered a potential co-owner of the assets, not a creditor.