Employee Benefit vs Individual Account - The greatest distinction is just that a 401( k) is used as part of an employee benefits prepare, while an individual retirement account is owned and administered by the personal account holder. Each time, you'll be confronted with the concern of what to do with your accumulated 401k advantages. Given that more than someone owns funds in the total account, a 3rd party, usually an insurance organization or other monetary company, administers the account.