Wealth Finance

A Fidelity Investments study released today shows a rise in both loans against 401(k) plans and hardship withdrawals, compared to a year ago.

The economy being what it is, it isn’t surprising that more of us would be raiding our 401(k)s. If you’re ever tempted, bear in mind that there are often better ways to find emergency cash. Same for cashing in your 401(k) when you leave a job—a bad idea unless you absolutely need the cash and have run out of other options. In cheerier news, the study also found participants were still contributing an average of about 8 percent of their salaries to the plans and that more participants had increased their contributions than decreased them.—Greg Daugherty Greg writes the “Retirement Guy” column each month in our Consumer Reports Money Adviser newsletter.

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