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What is holding the market up if those who have IRAs know the government is about to rob them?

Mostly, the holders are trapped.

With an IRA, you have more control, but with an employer-sponsored 401(k), it's likely you can't take the money out, no matter what.

I've looked into it at our company, which admittedly has a stricter plan than most. As long as we're employed, there's no way to pull the funds except under hardship, and the hardship exemptions basically call for you to be disapproved for all other sources of funding (high interest credit cards, signature loans, etc.)

But even if you can take the money out, there's a 10% penalty, and you pay taxes as if it were current year income, which means the whole lump sum is charged at your highest marginal rate (and likely a bunch of it will be in an even higher tax bracket).

So, between the taxes and penalties, you may end up loosing any gains you made by putting that money away.

Even with all that, I'd still pull the funds out of my 401(k) if I could, but, short of quitting my job, I can't.

See if your 401(k) plan offers a non-hardship early withdrawal. Many do. Roll it into an IRA. IRA’s are different than 401(k)’s, especially from a political perspective.