Excerpt:
Struggling to save their homes from foreclosure, more Americans are raiding their 401(k) retirement accounts to pay their bills — and getting slammed with taxes and penalties in the process, according to retirement plan administrators.Arrrgggh ! This is beyond stupid, stupid, stupid . . .Rather than borrow money from their 401(k) accounts, which would have to be paid back, a growing number of beleaguered families have been cashing out, plan administrators say.
This is happening even as borrowing from 401(k) accounts remains fairly flat. Fewer still are borrowing from 401(k) plans to buy homes. By contrast, new figures from plan administrators show the number of 401(k) "hardship withdrawals" is up in early 2008 compared with the same period last year.
The main reason? The need to stave off foreclosure or eviction.
The federal reserve just picked the pocket of the average family of 4 about $3200 to pay several million a piece to central bankers in New York who made these bad deals.