They want our 401k, they will not give us easier access to our money. Eventually, they’ll roll them all over to t-bills and take over administration of the funds.
10% penalty or not, if I get laid off, I’m raiding my 401k to pay off my mortgage.
Why pay off your mortgage when the Feds will pay it off. ;-)
If people sell and pay the penalty you may want to move it out, pay the penalty then sell and you at least get a $3,000 a year tax loss carryfoward.
Being laid off is a “hardship” under the rules, if I recall correctly.
I'm thinking the same way. I don't care about the penalty. I need to reduce debt. I've heard Dave Ramsey on this and I understand why I shouldn't do it - in a rational world. My concern is that Obambi will so change the financial structure of this country that it won't matter if I have a 401(k) or that it might be hijacked by the government. Did you see the thread on the state of Florida looking into the legality of raiding 129 plans?! Who knows what the heck will happen w/our funds.
I need to be debt free. We've been told we won't get raises for the foreseeable future. Again, in a rational world I would think about changing jobs, but all of the university depts in my field are going through the same thing, some are in much worse shape than we are. I'm fortunate to be in a field where there is private industry demand, but with the whole economy in the tank, there aren't many private sector jobs either. I think I'm good, job-wise, to ride it out, but I am seriously, seriously thinking about cashing out some of the fund to pay off debt so that I have less to worry about as long as 0 is in power.