401(k) accounts are not designed as piggy banks to be tapped for nonretirement expenses. But stuff happens.
Since the Great Recession, loans from 401(k) accounts have been rising. Some 17.6 percent of plan participants had loans outstanding last year, compared with 15.3 percent in 2008, according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI). A much smaller number of 401(k) participants (1.3 percent) took hardship withdrawals last year, according to the ICI.
The loan numbers reflect the financial pressures facing so many households. A recent survey by the Pew Charitable Trust found that 60 percent of . . .
