401k's...

[Mark]

Quick question, are you allowed to take money out of yout 401k any time you want? Please answer quickly, ill give you guys the reason why im asking it(and its hilarious) in a few minutes...

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: Mark
Quick question, are you allowed to take money out of yout 401k any time you want? Please answer quickly, ill give you guys the reason why im asking it(and its hilarious) in a few minutes...

Yes Mark, you can, but there are tax penalities.

 

[Mark]

what kind of limits? if someone has 18,000, can he easily take out 3500? i need to bail someone out of jail, and this was his way of convincing me he had the money LOL

 

[Skunkwourk]

Originally posted by: Mark
what kind of limits? if someone has 18,000, can he easily take out 3500?

it depends, I think Im allowed to take a max of 10,000 for a down payment on a house, otherwise it stays in there until Im 59...

 

[Skunkwourk]

Originally posted by: Mark
what kind of limits? if someone has 18,000, can he easily take out 3500? i need to bail someone out of jail, and this was his way of convincing me he had the money LOL

why doesn't he just see if he can be released on "own recognizance", it won't cost him anything...

 

[FP]

No limits usually.

A better idea would be to take a loan against your 401k. You can borrow up to 50% of the total value.

 

[Mark]

because he had a warrant for his arrest...

 

[KLin]

Depending on the rules of your 401k, you can withdraw or even take out a loan and pay it back with interest. the problem is, you don't get the money immediately. They usually send out a check via snail mail. At least that's what Fidelity does. So it's kind of worthless for bailing someone out.

 

[OhioState]

Come on tell us the story of the friend in jail 😀

And dont wait to go see the doc !

 

[Ranger X]

You can borrow against it but you'll have to pay back the money with interest. For first time home buyers, he or she can withdraw the money without a penalty (from my understanding).

 

[Jittos]

Originally posted by: Ranger X
You can borrow against it but you'll have to pay back the money with interest. For first time home buyers, he or she can withdraw the money without a penalty (from my understanding).

Yup, I think you can use take it out with no penalties for home purchase, and also for tuition, I think.

 

[quakefiend420]

so what's the story on your friend going to jail?

c'mon spill it 😛

 

[compuwiz1]

You cannot lien retirement accounts for repayment of debt. Anybody wanting out of jail bad enough is going to say anything, to get you, to get them out.

Just food for thought. 😉

Loans against 401k's can take 2-3 weeks to actually get the money. He might be released by then, anyway. I'd let a bail bondsman handle this one and keep yourself out of it, if it were me.

 

[w00t]

what's a 401k? isnt it like a retirement plan? 😕

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: Mark
Quick question, are you allowed to take money out of yout 401k any time you want? Please answer quickly, ill give you guys the reason why im asking it(and its hilarious) in a few minutes...

You can take a 401k loan pretty easy with most larger companies. It generally takes at least two weeks for the check to process.

Your real question is: "Shall I bail my buddy out of jail and he will pay me back with a 401k loan?"

Absolutely not!! Suppose you bail him out and upon getting out of jail, he steps off of a curb and gets hit by a bus. You are out your cash.

Bail Bondsmen are around for a reason.

 

[Fritzo]

I just did this (well, sort of, I took out a loan against mine @5.5% with paycheck deductions).

If you do a cashout, there's a 40% tax penalty you'll get hit with. Not worth it unless it's a DIRE emergency. My view is if you're hard up for money now, how are you going to come up with that tax bill at the beginning of the year next year?