cash in my 401?

Question

my husband has around $19000 in his 401k. we are in a real hard place and need some money. he already has 1 loan against it, and we are considering cashing it in. Can someone tell me what the penalties would be on it. The loan he has still owes around $4000, I would like to know about how much we would get.

Answer 1

You will have a 30% penalty for cashing it in. Along with State and Federal Penalties as well. On $19000 you should only expect about $10,000.

30 % for early withdrawl penalty and 25 % penalty for federal and state.

Answer 2

Even if you didn't have a loan against it I concur with another of the answerers....... after penalties, taxes and fees.... about $10,000 more or less.

If you really need the money no matter what well you have to do what you have to do. But cashing in your 401k sholud be the very LAST thing that you possibly do to get out of debt.
Heres what usually happens. People cash in their 401ks instead of addressing the reasons that they are having financial hardship in the first place. Then they get intodebt again and don't have a way out again. Of course for some getting in a hard place is just bad luck or unforeseen circumstances.

When you cash in a 401 you lose so much money. That is whyone should make this a last resort. Get rid of the credit cards if you have them. If you owe to much close them and work out payment. Get a bank loan if you can.

Or look at every bill and expense that you have. You both have cell phones? Get rid of the home phone. Even if you look at the home phone bill there are usually things to cut out. Car insurance, getting a cheaper car, getting rid of HBO if you have cable, cook meals from scratch and don't eat convience food too often....... they say that (and its pretty much true) that any household can cut 30% of its expenses and retain the same quality of life.

Answer 3

Presuming your husband is fully vested in the 401(k) plan, you'll get the value of it, less any loans you have against it. So it sounds like you'd get about $15,000.

Here's the kicker. You're going to pay A LOT of taxes on it. You'll pay the regular tax rate (which is probably either 15% or 28% for you), and then on top of that, you're going to pay a 10% penalty for early withdrawal.

So, you could wind up paying as much as 38%. If that were the case, you'd wind up with about $9300 when all is said and done.

A lot of people would tell you NOT to do that. However, I speak from personal experience. I, too, found myself in a hard place, and I had the option of going into debt or cashing in my retirement. I opted to cash in my retirement savings. Yes, I had to pay the taxes and penalties. Yes, I lost my retirement savings. BUT...I did NOT go into debt. Because I did not go into debt, I am able to use my income for current expenses and savings. If you're committed to getting out of debt and staying out of debt, I'd recommend going ahead and taking the money out.

Whatever you ultimately decide to do, I wish you the best of luck!

Answer 4

Not advisable.
Cashing it in will cost you the 10% penalty PLUS taxes at whichever bracket rate you're currently in. And that's even if they let you cash it in considering you have a loan against it.

Figure around $19,000
Taxes @ 15% or 28% (around $2,850 or $5,320)
Penalty for early withdrawal 10% = around $1,900

Balance you'll get ... around $11K - $14K
And it's LESS if where you live also has a STATE income tax.

Try this site, there's information about withdrawal and hardship, etc., etc.
http://www.401khelpcenter.com/

Answer 5

Try and find another way. If you cash it in, you will have to pay an extreme amount of tax on that money.
Open a savings account (if you don't have one already) and have the bank automatically transfer $25-$50 per paycheck into it. This way you have some extra cash when you need it and don't need to put smaller things on the credit card (it really helps).

Good Luck!

Answer 6

You'll get hit with a 10% excise tax penalty amoung other things. Will the employer even let you cash it in? You may withdrawal monies from your account in hardship situations and not be penalized (look into that with your specific account). Still, cashing in your retirement is a last ditch effort to resolve a financial problem IMHO.

Answer 7

Only take a loan from your 401K if there are no other alternatives, credit cards, personal loans, tap anything else before you tap your retirement. I'm not sure how old you both are but if you have children and have been saving for their college, it would be a much better idea to tap an account to help their future than to tap your future.
"Its easy to get people to lend money for colleg. NOONE will lend you money for retirement."

Answer 8

Try to get some financial counseling. It's obvious you are living beyond your means if you have to keep tapping the 401K.

Learn to budget, get an extra job to pick up NECESSITIES if that is the issue, but stop raiding the 401K fund or your retirement will be food stamps and a piddly social security check.

Answer 9

Depending on what the situation is, you may be able to get a Hardship Withdrawal on the account. I had a loan out on my from '04 and was still able to take out close to $3,000 when the place I bought didn't come with any major appliances.

Answer 10

after 30 % penalty you wont have a lot left. please try to find another way.
God bless you. Iknow you are in a hard place. been there.
God bless you