[Dead Corpse]

It's a contract limited bank account. The companies holding 401(k) assets are private institutions. Think of them as CD's that you can borrow against.

As such, they are in fact private property. Those holding the trust cannot claim ownership.

So yeah, technically, they WOULD be taking money that is MINE.

[trad_anglican]

It's a contract limited bank account.

No. It's a trust created by an employee benefit plan that is qualified under section 401 of the internal revenue code.

The companies holding 401(k) assets are private institutions.

Correct but irrelevant. To the extent anyone "owns" the assets it's the trustee, who may or may not be the institution holding the assets.

Think of them as CD's that you can borrow against

You can think of them this way but you'd be wrong.