Early Tap of 401(k) Replaces Homes as American Piggy Bank

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-06/early-tap-of-401-k-replaces-homes-as-american-piggy-bank.html

Premature withdrawals from retirement accounts have become America’s new piggy bank, cracked open in record amounts during lean times by people like Cindy Cromie, who needed the money to rent a U-Haul and start a new life.

Her employer, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, had outsourced Cromie’s medical transcription work. Cromie said the move cut her income by as much as 60 percent, at times leaving her with minimum-wage pay.

So, last year, at age 56, she moved about 90 miles from her home in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, into her mother’s basement. To make ends meet as she moved and then quit the job, Cromie pulled out $2,767 from her retirement savings.

“We made two trips and it just got to be real expensive,” she said. “That money, it was a security that I needed.”

[BeyondGeography]

1. Penalties for people in need are such bullshit

Obama's $10K penalty exemption was a no-brainer; of course it went nowhere.

[socialist_n_TN]

2. It happened to us when my wife lost her job......

and we need the money.

[woo me with science]

3. Everything is being liquidated and transferred to the wealthy.

All part of the plan.

[KoKo]

4. Recommend.