ListNook

Super-Character-5290 Mar 28, 2026 +1

This is what happens when your emergency fund gets wiped out by inflation. The system is failing regular people.

1

SAugsburger Mar 28, 2026 +1

Inflation is part of it, but rising layoffs and many of those finding jobs after layoffs often taking a pay cut to return to the workforce I think are pretty significant factor. A decent length stint of unemployment will wipe out most people's savings where an unplanned expense on a lower salary suddenly becomes a big problem.

1

Most_Luck4971 Mar 28, 2026 +1

Ding ding ding! I have had three layoffs in five years and had to rely on my 401k each time. And I sold three houses. No debt, but no house now and about 30k built back up in my 401k at 45. I am moving in with my fiancé to save more. I preferred my independence. But at least his son is finally moving out. My goal is to pay off my daughter's 6k college loan and get her a newer used car... she graduates in a year and my hope is that she can start off on the best foot possible.

1

ButtSpelunker420 Mar 28, 2026 +1

Regular people failed when they elected Trump.

1

Chemical-Fault-7331 Mar 28, 2026 +1

Don’t have any sympathy for dipshit republicans voters that got fucked over. Rub it in their faces. Don’t feel any pity for them. They are stupid f****** people. All of them.

1

Prior_Coyote_4376 Mar 28, 2026 +1

As far as I’m concerned the sooner these shithole counties become irrelevant to global politics, the better In a tolerant society there are still certain ways of thinking and behaving that cannot be tolerated or else it’ll bring the whole society down. Right now those are the Confederate RepubliKKKans who want the days of monarchy, slavery, and patriarchy to stay forever. The entire world suffers because of the delusion that the South will rise again and cement a racial caste system until the end of the world, which they can’t wait for in their doomsday radical Christian brainwashing that thinks Middle Eastern holy wars fulfill their religious mandate Reconstruction 2028: finish weeding out the Confederate attacking our nation at its roots.

1

brbcatsranaway Mar 28, 2026 +1

I’m going a step further if I’ve got a major purchase and they answer wrong on who they voted for tell them to get off my property

1

FBS351 Mar 28, 2026 +1

I could forgive the stupidity if it wasn't coupled with all the hate

1

modefi__ Mar 28, 2026 +1

Honestly this rhetoric is getting just as tiring as anything from Trump. Divide and conquer, or something.

1

doinbluin Mar 28, 2026 +1

Wtf is "regular" people?

1

NiceTrySuckaz Mar 28, 2026 +1

I'm a regular guy and I'm doing fine. Pulling your 401k is crazy, you should take out a loan on your house if you need cash that badly, it will cost you less in the long run than the tax penalties for early 401k withdrawal.

1

CockBrother Mar 28, 2026 +1

This might be your let then eat cake moment.

1

NiceTrySuckaz Mar 28, 2026 +1

Your username is too stunning for me to argue with you. I keep starting to type and then looking at your username and deleting everything I wrote.

1

Malaix Mar 28, 2026 +1

401ks were failing to get boomers, the richest generation, through their retirement years before all this noise started. Can't imagine what the millennial retirement era is going to look like.

1

Elsa_the_Archer Mar 28, 2026 +1

Honestly I have a hard time thinking we will still be a country by the time im supposed to retire. But also Im 34 and ive never made enough to meaningfully contribute to a 401k. I dont expect Social Security will be meaningful if we still are a country. So I guess I'll just keep working till I die. I assume im not alone in this.

1

modefi__ Mar 28, 2026 +1

Nope. I'm 38 and I'm 100% mentally prepared to continue working until my skin is leather and my bones are dust, but that chunk of money could improve my life now. So. Penalties it is.

1

olemiss18 Mar 28, 2026 +1

Please don’t do this. I want you to have a quality retirement. Make regular contributions to the extent you can and please don’t withdraw any before 59.5 years old.

1

fga2025 Mar 28, 2026 +1

People are not withdrawing from 401Ks out of choice. They are doing it out of desperation. Stop with your condescending "please" like you are giving sage advice that is helping people.

1

BA5ED Mar 28, 2026 +1

Unless you’re working in a trade or a highly specialized field, you’ve probably got a 20 year or less runway before your job gets automated or infiltrated by AI/robots or both.

1

Adjective-Noun1780 Mar 28, 2026 +1

What about Gen X??

1

-youvegotredonyou- Mar 28, 2026 +1

We will work until we die, the way the overlords meant it to be.

1

Omnitographer Mar 28, 2026 +1

I'm counting on my defined benefit pension for retirement, I've no reason to expect it won't be there when the time comes, and if it isn't then America has likely long since descended into a Mad Max wasteland and money is the least of anyone's worries.

1

jeffykins Mar 28, 2026 +1

What retirement era?

1

papibigdaddy Mar 28, 2026 +1

If you're not 55, you pay a steep penalty every time you withdraw. There was a little breathing room during the height of Covid. It's not a good idea to dip into your retirement account, but the majority of this country is paycheck-to-paycheck, private equity and the ultra-rich are pricing people out of their own communities, buying a house is not possible for most people, Eversource and National Grid are charging out the ass with impunity, and companies are running under "you will own nothing, f*** you". The DOE is being stripped, that means sports and arts are gonna disappear all over the place. It's gonna be tough for people not to dip into their funds. Don't even get me started on healthcare and nutrition.

1

MoonlitInstrumental Mar 28, 2026 +1

lets be completely honest here. if youre in your 30s, you aren't making it to 55 before the whole system collapses. if you need the money in your 401(k) the penalties are worth it because that money is completely imaginary otherwise

1

Pumpkins_Are_Fruits Mar 28, 2026 +1

Guys, please don’t take financial advice from this guy.

1

CSAtWitsEnd Mar 28, 2026 +1

As the saying goes: time in the market beats timing the market. If you could pinpoint, in advance, exactly when a crash was going to happen, fine. Make your millions. But since you likely do not have access to a crystal ball that predicts the future with that level of precision, I wouldn’t touch your 401k unless you absolutely have to.

1

TheJaybo Mar 28, 2026 +1

What system? Like, society?

1

highlorestat Mar 28, 2026 +1

And let's be honest they'll never refund you anything they lost of your 401k in the stock market, best take it out now before all that profit they were making is gone.

1

TomPrince Mar 28, 2026 +1

These people who pulled out will look like geniuses if there’s a crash similar to the Great Depression.

1

Herewego199 Mar 28, 2026 +1

You don’t have to pull anything out of your 401k to limit your exposure to equities markets. You can just allocate the balance to bonds or cash within your 401k and not incur any penalties.

1

SsgtMeatball Mar 28, 2026 +1

I pulled all of mine the day Pam Bondi screamed "the DOW is over $50,000!" as an excuse for legalizing pedophilia. The amount the same investments would have lost since then is already greater then the penalty I will pay (which in the end I won't have to pay, because of other reasons but that's by the by). Provided the markets don't jump too far ahead before I can reinvest, I think I made the right choice.

1

Ok-Play6899 Mar 28, 2026 +1

Statistically, timing the market like you are doing virtually always loses compared to keeping your money invested and buying through the downturn.

1

Pumpkins_Are_Fruits Mar 28, 2026 +1

You hurt your self in that. You keep buying the dip.

1

oneshot99210 Mar 28, 2026 +1

Several studies have looked at attempts to timing the market, and one of the facts that came out is this: Looking at a 30 year history of the market, and trying to measure how accurate one has to be, found that *missing just 10 best days out of 30 years cut returns by over 50%!* So, are you accurate enough to catch the essential 10 days out of the roughly 7,500 trading days in 30 years? Do you feel lucky?

1

Rivster79 Mar 28, 2026 +1

What are you talking about? Are you suggesting our entire financial markets are imaginary? If so, this has nothing to do with a 401K

1

alfooboboao Mar 28, 2026 +1

how do you go broke? slowly, then all at once

1

Calcutec_1 Mar 28, 2026 +1

401k is retirement right ? In Europe you can’t touch that money until 60-67(depending on countries)

1

radarthreat Mar 28, 2026 +1

Yeah, but here you can take it out if you pay a penalty

1

Calcutec_1 Mar 28, 2026 +1

I can see how tempting that could be

1

Rivster79 Mar 28, 2026 +1

Penalties plus taxes.

1

raunchyfartbomb Mar 28, 2026 +1

You can also take it out as a loan to yourself, penalty free if you pay it back. I took 50k out for my how payment on my house to avoid PMI. It would’ve been something like 18k in PMI per year until I hit 20% on my mortgage in 3 years, so it was huge money saved by giving myself a loan at a 5% interest rate.

1

ididntseeitcoming Mar 28, 2026 +1

I’m pulling 40 out of mine to help with the same thing. Plus, retirement is a problem for me in 30 years. I’ll deal with it then

1

KathyFromUK Mar 28, 2026 +1

It’s 55yo to withdraw money from your self invested pension plan in UK, rising to 57yo in April 2028.

1

-eYe- Mar 28, 2026 +1

Same here in Australia. Employers pay 12% of your wages into superannuation which is locked away until 60. It's mandatory for everyone and you can't touch it unless you're literally dying.

1

BigDumbandSexy Mar 28, 2026 +1

I wonder fuckin why...

1

Explosivo87 Mar 28, 2026 +1

I literally just did a hardship withdraw to cover rent. Hoping that’s the last time I have to do that but glad I had the option for now to not be homeless.

1

Lefty1992 Mar 28, 2026 +1

If you're young, don't pull your money out! Leave it in and ride it out unless you absolutely need the money.

1

tits_mcgee_92 Mar 28, 2026 +1

I remember my coworker, who was in her 60s at the time, told me this. I barely knew what a 401k was and it was my first job out or college. I’m so glad I listened to her and kept my company match (3%) for over a decade now.

1

Daisako Mar 28, 2026 +1

Yeah, mine went down for the first time since I started it but it had only lost 4 months of interest so far... Leave it in or you might as well be gambling. The market will come back eventually.

1

shhhhhhark Mar 28, 2026 +1

I work at a hospital in revenue/billing. My hospital was barely solvent before this idiot took office, hospitals were required to pay back their COVID loans. My organization is merging with a larger in less than a year. Best case scenario I lose all my seniority, saved up pto and keep my job. Worst case I get laid off. I’ve been looking for another job but it’s tough, hospitals are losing doctors and everything is slowing. My point being, I may be forced to join this group if I am laid off. It’s going to take years to recover from this and I’m 53……good times

1

DukeStamina Mar 28, 2026 +1

If done for emergencies such as health issues or even putting food on the table, it's a sad but necessary thing to do. If done because of a decline in the stock market, its the wrong thing to do, especially if you are years away from retirement. The ups and downs of the market with steady investing is beneficial to higher overall earnings than saving at a flat rate. (See dollar cost averaging)

1

btross Mar 28, 2026 +1

If it's a necessary thing to do, it's because Trump's mismanagement of this country made it necessary.

1

[deleted] Mar 28, 2026 +1

[deleted]

1

catsbetterthankids Mar 28, 2026 +1

Twice he’s managed to take the good economy he was handed and wreck it

1

[deleted] Mar 28, 2026 +1

[deleted]

1

Etzell Mar 28, 2026 +1

Nah, a shitload of them are Reagan's fault, but Trump has certainly bumblefucked his fair share of them.

1

It_Starts_Smoll Mar 28, 2026 +1

Yeah, nobody is saying that but you.

1

[deleted] Mar 28, 2026 +1

[deleted]

1

NotThatDonny Mar 28, 2026 +1

It's called a strawman. You created an argument that nobody actually made, just so you could disagree with it.

1

[deleted] Mar 28, 2026 +1

[deleted]

1

NotThatDonny Mar 28, 2026 +1

Because nobody has said it was all his fault. That's the strawman you created. The problems before were in the economy; while there was overall growth, it was benefitting fewer, and too many people were simply losing out on a slice of the pie. Trump has managed to cause problems with the economy itself; the pie itself is now shrinking.

1

cardfire Mar 28, 2026 +1

[You sure about that? It really looks like you *did* say that](https://i.imgur.com/sOHSmXH.jpeg)

1

Melodic_Wafer_492 Mar 28, 2026 +1

While this is generally good advice, lost decades do exist. This is where it takes 10+ years to get back to baseline/breakeven of an initial investment. They tend to occur after calamitous economic events. Had you invested before the crash in 1929, it would’ve taken 20 years to break even. Same with 2000. You would’ve had to wait till 2010 to see any return. Had you invested in the Japanese stock market in 1989, it would’ve taken 35 years to get back to baseline. Lost decades are rare, but if I had to make a bet, a mass global disruption of oil exports due to infrastructure collapse could definitely be the ticket that gets us there.

1

Elsa_the_Archer Mar 28, 2026 +1

And the global currency possibly moving away from the dollar doesn't help.

1

SAugsburger Mar 28, 2026 +1

Hard to say for certain. After the Secure Act 2 requirements for hardship withdrawals became easier so think hardship withdrawal rates were bound to rise a bit in the following years as people became more aware that accessing their money was easier. That being said with rising unemployment I would imagine many are legitimate hardships where people are between a rock and a hard place financially.

1

Timbukthree Mar 28, 2026 +1

This is about hardship withdrawals in 2025, not about selling stocks or bonds for cash but keeping all of that in the account

1

PlainJaneGum Mar 28, 2026 +1

That’s right baby. Prof G is my mothafucka!

1

TheCzar11 Mar 28, 2026 +1

Made mistake of even looking at my 401k. We are quite a ways down from the highs. Ugh…and it’s all self inflicted.

1

JackBurton___Me Mar 28, 2026 +1

The Trump era in full effect.

1

Intel-Source Mar 28, 2026 +1

They want to get their money out before the stock market collapses!

1

blazesquall Mar 28, 2026 +1

Not with penalties.. they're doing it because they're otherwise insolvent. Bad indicator.

1

DustShallEatTheDays Mar 28, 2026 +1

It’s an especially bad indicator if you consider that lower income brackets usually don’t even have access to a 401k. That means even white collar folks are desperate.

1

Intel-Source Mar 28, 2026 +1

If the market totally collapses, they won't have much left to pull out.

1

SAugsburger Mar 28, 2026 +1

There is still a big difference between moving a bunch of money into cash equivalents (money market, stable value funds, etc.) and a hardship withdrawal. This is a report saying that there are record percentage of Vanguard clients doing hardship withdrawals. While it is only a single provider Vanguard is a pretty large 401k provider so it is safe to say most 401k plan providers are seeing similar spikes.

1

RecentDecision2329 Mar 28, 2026 +1

Can just move it into money market funds, you only pull it out if you are going to use the money

1

Intel-Source Mar 28, 2026 +1

They may worry that if the economy really tanks that they might need the money, and they may no longer even trust accounts or banks.

1

Rivster79 Mar 28, 2026 +1

This would be an insane take. People are not paying 10% penalties plus income tax for the “vibes”. You do this out of desperation if there are no other survival options left.

1

R101C Mar 28, 2026 +1

If that happens the cash you have on hand is going to rapidly become worthless. They would be buying bullets.

1

Rivster79 Mar 28, 2026 +1

You can sell stocks and move money to cash. The article is saying people are withdrawing from their accounts.

1

futuriztic Mar 28, 2026 +1

Magaaaa

1

Pad_TyTy Mar 28, 2026 +1

I've used the hardship loan option before, and it helped me as I stabilized my balance sheet, but people opting to full withdrawals to make ends meet seems like last resort actions. The consumption economy has been an overextended bubble for a long time, and the current administration has no tools left (nor the inclination) to provide any meaningful assistance in putting the brakes on a systemic collapse of the economy. Anyways, I love my girlfriend and I still have a job for now, so I guess not everything is bad.

1

punkin_sumthin Mar 28, 2026 +1

They’ll beat the big market drop that is coming.

1

Rivster79 Mar 28, 2026 +1

This is not people trying to time the market. This is people withdrawing from their 401Ks out of necessity.

1

Mean_Rule9823 Mar 28, 2026 +1

I mean at the rate its going ww3 will be here before retirement lol why not live now.

1

Agreeable_Job4878 Mar 28, 2026 +1

And what are they going to do with it? Buy a GIC paying 2%? buy gold? Too late. Buy crypto? It's doing worse.

1

It_Starts_Smoll Mar 28, 2026 +1

Pay rent? Medical bills?

1

ObservableObject Mar 28, 2026 +1

Right. Some people are reading this as people taking money out because they don't trust the markets, but I think people taking money out because they want to not become homeless is a bit more likely. If anyone is expecting their 401k to dip to the point where it's worthless, I hope they're planning to use the money to buy plane tickets or something, or canned food and ammo, because things are going to get pretty wild in that case.

1

Toomanyeastereggs Mar 28, 2026 +1

Food and rent now, or food and rent in 20 years time. Tough choice.

1

Americans are pulling money out of their 401(k) funds at record rates

💬 Send a Message

89 Comments