 My first reaction, Adrienne, is please don't do this, at least until we have more information from you. I need to know, number one, how old are you? How much money is in the 401 ? What's your tax bracket? My big fear is that you're under the age of 59 and a half, and therefore you'd have to pay not just the taxes that would be due on the 401 , but also a penalty, and I'd love to avoid that.