@Opus 17 Thank you the reply. If I may clarify, IMHO you're making 2 points about the IRA situation:
So putting your deductible IRA money into the 401(k) in order to separate out the non-deductible money will leave your funds stuck in the 401(k)
Very true but is it not the opposite actually, where funds are more "stuck" in an IRA than in a 401(k) since the rule of 55 only applies to 401(k) and not IRA meaning there's no chance of ever taking penalty free funds out of an IRA before 59 and 1/2 while there's some chance of doing that earlier from 401(k)?
Your second point is very true - 401(k), which might not have the investments you would prefer.
I totally agree that IRA permits trading at will with access to the open market while most 401(k) have limited and structured "portfolio" investment options controlled by the custodian (with some notable exceptions of brokerage trading window that very few permit)
