jack159 wrote:

I heard that 457 plans cannot be rolloed over into an IRA. Is this true?

yep.

what modifications to this plan wold make it comparable to a 401(k) plan?

Someone more qualified might want to explain this better than me, but the two are considered different in the eyes of the IRS for a few reasons, the main one being 457b plans are for state or local government agencies or tax exempt organizations, 401k are usually for companies or businesses. Only legislation can modify the rules of these plans.

If you want more info on the differences, go to http://www.irs.gov , and look arount there, use the search at the bottom to read info about both plans.

HTH

Rick