Advice on 401 (k) hardship withdrawal - The Bills.com Blog

Bills.com Blog > Other Questions > 401 (k) Advice

Advice on 401 (k) hardship withdrawal

Question: I want to withdraw my contribution of 401k but my employer says irs does not allow except some exceptions.

Answer: A 401(k) plan is a type of tax-qualified deferred compensation plan in which an employee can elect to have the employer contribute a portion of his or her cash wages to the plan on a pre?tax basis. These deferred wages (commonly referred to as elective deferrals) are not subject toincome tax withholding at the time of deferral, and they are not reflected on your Form 1040 since they were not included in the taxable wages on your Form W-2.

However, they are included as wages subject to social security, Medicare, and federal unemployment taxes.

Many 401(k) plans allow employees to make a hardship withdrawal because of immediate and heavy financial needs. Generally, hardship distributions from a 401(k) plan are limited to the amount of the employee's elective deferrals only, and do not include any income earned on the deferred amounts. Hardship distributions are not treated as eligible rollover distributions.

Hardship Basics
A hardship withdrawal is not like a plan loan. The withdrawal may be difficult to get, and costly if you receive it. Remember, your 401k is meant to provide retirement income. It should be a last-resort source of cash for expenses before then. IRS rules allow plan withdrawals in a limited number of

hardship situations. To further discourage early withdrawals, in some cases the IRS imposes a hefty financial penalty.

Two types of hardship withdrawals are permitted from 401k plans. One is called a financial hardship withdrawal. It is subject to applicable income taxes and a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty if you are younger than 59 1/2. The other is a penalty-free withdrawal made under Section 72(t) of the Internal Revenue Code. With this, you pay applicable income taxes but not an early withdrawal penalty.

Financial hardship withdrawals are allowed for the following reasons:
to buy a primary residence
to prevent foreclosure or eviction from your home to pay college tuition for yourself or a dependent, provided the tuition is due within the next 12 months to pay un-reimbursed medical expenses for you or your dependents

You may qualify to take a penalty-free withdrawal if you meet one of the following exceptions:
You become totally

disabled.
You are in debt for medical expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income.
You are required by court order to give the money to your divorced spouse, a child, or a dependent.
You are separated from service (through permanent layoff, termination, quitting or taking early retirement) in the year you turn 55, or later.
You are separated from service and you have set up a payment schedule to withdraw money in substantially equal amounts over the course of your life expectancy. (Once you begin taking this kind of distribution you are required to continue for five years or until you reach age 59 1/2, whichever is longer.)

Finally, employers are not required to offer either type of hardship withdrawal, so you should check with your employer to see which type, if any, is available to you. I hope this information has helped you Find. Learn. Save!

Best,
Bill
www.bills.com

Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!

Submit questions/comments about this post:

Bill has answered all sorts of questions and has been able to provide those in need of financial guidance with helpful and valuable advice and information on their specific financial area of interest. If you need specific guidance on any of the above mentioned financial areas, feel free to Ask Bill your financial questions and get better informed. Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!

Name (required)
Email (required never displayed)
Comments
	Please enter the characters you see in the image above.