I keep up with most of the dumpster fire that is current US news but I’m sorta lost on this one. I contribute to my 401k every week and have a few thousand saved up, as well as stock in the company I work for. Is all of the bad news referring to the stock market crashing? Is this general across the board or more company-specific? I consider myself decently politically educated but not so much economically.
No. Unless you had a ton of money in the account and you were already very close to retirement it just wouldn’t make sense. There are a lot of penalties when you pull an account early. I made a hardship withdrawal back in 2023 to make the down payment on my first home and that made sense for me, but even that type of thing isn’t right for everyone.
Your 401k will rebound eventually, retirement investment requires you to play the long game. If things get bad enough that your 401k is wiped out entirely then it really won’t matter whether or not you pulled the money out because it would likely be worthless in that situation.
It may be wise to change your elections so that the investments are less aggressive/volatile if you have that option, but otherwise try not to think about the total dollar amount as the economy shits the bed. It’s not like a bank account where the dollars equal dollars directly, the value of the investments can change quickly.
Do what this guy said, It’s good advice.