Your retirement savings should probably be a last resort to meet your financial needs, for most people. You could incur penalties and taxes to use your retirement savings to pay off debt. Plus, you'll lose out on investment income, which can be impossible to recover in the future.
The only time you should even consider taking money out of your retirement accounts early is to avoid a bankruptcy or foreclosure. Otherwise, hands off the 401(k)! When you do the math, you'll see that you're better off leaving your retirement investments alone and finding other ways to get rid of your debt.
The short answer: It depends. If debt causes daily stress, you may consider drastic debt payoff plans. Knowing that early withdrawal from your 401(k) could cost you in extra taxes and fees, it's important to assess your financial situation and run some calculations first.
Debt payoff may seem like a good use of IRA funds now, but it can jeopardize your retirement savings and put you in a worse financial state later. You need to let the funds grow over time, and reducing the balance now could seriously impair your savings potential in the future.
In general, it's a good idea to avoid tapping any retirement money until you've reached age 59½.
The 4% rule is a popular retirement withdrawal strategy that suggests retirees can safely withdraw the amount equal to 4% of their savings during the year they retire and then adjust for inflation each subsequent year for 30 years.
You can withdraw money from your IRA at any time. However, a 10% additional tax generally applies if you withdraw IRA or retirement plan assets before you reach age 59½, unless you qualify for another exception to the tax.
It's true that you'll be paying the loan back to yourself with interest, but by temporarily taking money out of your account, you'll be missing out on the compound earnings that money could otherwise have accrued.
Generally, early withdrawal from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) prior to age 59½ is subject to being included in gross income plus a 10 percent additional tax penalty. There are exceptions to the 10 percent penalty, such as using IRA funds to pay your medical insurance premium after a job loss.
If you withdraw money from a traditional IRA before you turn 59 ½, you must pay a 10% tax penalty (with a few exceptions), in addition to regular income taxes. Plus, the IRA withdrawal would be taxed as regular income, and could possibly propel you into a higher tax bracket, costing you even more.
Once you reach 59½, you can take distributions from your 401(k) plan without being subject to the 10% penalty. However, that doesn't mean there are no consequences. All withdrawals from your 401(k), even those taken after age 59½, are subject to ordinary income taxes.
Once you start withdrawing from your 401(k) or traditional IRA, your withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. You'll report the taxable part of your distribution directly on your Form 1040. Keep in mind, the tax considerations for a Roth 401(k) or Roth IRA are different.
Deferring Social Security payments, rolling over old 401(k)s, setting up IRAs to avoid the mandatory 20% federal income tax, and keeping your capital gains taxes low are among the best strategies for reducing taxes on your 401(k) withdrawal.
And in the case of a traditional IRA, UBTI results in double taxation because you have to pay tax on the UBTI in the year it occurs and the year you take a distribution.
Consider a Roth Account
You won't get a tax deduction for the year you contribute to a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k), but you don't have to pay income tax on the account's investment growth and you can make tax-free withdrawals if your account is at least five years old and you're at least age 59 1/2.
We'll withhold 10% on the taxable portion of your withdrawal for federal income tax. You have the option of changing withholding to any percentage you want, including to 0%. The taxable portion of your withdrawal is subject to federal income tax at your ordinary rate. Also, you may have to pay state income tax.
Required minimum distribution (RMD) changes
SECURE 2.0 increases the age you must begin taking RMDs from your TSP account. The start age for RMDs increased from 72 to 73 starting on January 1, 2023. The start age will further increase to 75 on January 1, 2033.
You can request a distribution of part of your TSP account. Partial distributions must be at least $1,000. There is no limit to the number of partial distributions you can take, but we will not process more than one in any 30-day period.
There's an additional 10% penalty on early withdrawals. Your tax bracket is likely to decrease in retirement, which means pulling from your workplace retirement plan early could result in paying more in tax today than you would if you left the money untouched. That's even before factoring in the IRS penalty.
Cash flow management: Making monthly withdrawals allows you to treat this as a regular income. Many retirees prefer this style of cash flow over a lump sum format, as it helps with personal finance and budgeting. This is often the biggest advantage to making monthly or quarterly withdrawals.
There are a few situations where it makes sense to tap your 401(k) to get rid of personal debt. All of them fall into the category of hardship withdrawals, which are designated for “immediate and heavy” financial needs. Examples include: A down payment for buying a permanent residence.
One example is the $1,000/month rule. Created by Wes Moss, a Certified Financial Planner, this strategy helps individuals visualize how much savings they should have in retirement. According to Moss, you should plan to have $240,000 saved for every $1,000 of disposable income in retirement.
Based on the 80% principle, you can expect to need about $96,000 in annual income after you retire, which is $8,000 per month.
With $100,000 you should budget for a retirement income of around $5,000 to $8,000 on top of Social Security, depending on how you have invested your money. Much more than this will likely cause you to run out of money within 25 – 30 years, which is potentially within the lifespan of the average retiree.