View Single Post
Re: Emergency fund almost depleted
Old 02-13-2007, 05:24 PM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
free4now's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,138
Quote:
If you take out a loan against your retirement savings, it could create a problem when you leave your current employment. Any money you've borrowed has to be repaid when you terminate or it will be considered a distribution.
Usually but not always. Some companies will allow you to carry a loan on your 401k even after you leave.

Quote:
Another problem is that money you borrow from a 401k is pretax money. The money you pay back is after tax money. While you pay yourself the interest on such a loan, you pay tax twice (the after tax I mentioned plus the tax you pay when you retire and begin taking distributions).
This is the main reason I usually tell people to avoid 401k loans, but if the OP is only going to borrow a few months worth of living expenses and will pay it back soon, this is not a big deal.

The biggest cost of short term loans is often the origination fees, so a 401k loan or bank line of credit might be your best option. Be careful about refinancing or taking out a second mortgage because those have high origination fees (or else prepayment penalties).

Best of luck.
free4now is offline   Reply With Quote