Are 401k loans a good idea? No, not really, but they may still be your best option in certain situations.

Until you reach retirement age, 59 1/2 years old, there is a large penalty for withdrawing from your retirement account. If you take an early withdrawal you have to pay federal taxes, state taxes, and a ten percent penalty.

One way to avoid this and still take advantage of this money you’ve saved is to take a loan from your 401k, this is not available for everyone but some companies have worked it into their plans. There are a lot of downsides to doing this, however.

First of all, and this is often overlooked, the money you’ve borrowed isn’t being invested anymore. If you leave the money where it is in your account then you can keep earning returns on it, but while you’ve been borrowing it the money isn’t earning you more for your retirement.

You have five years to repay the loan, period. If you haven’t finished repaying it at that time then the remaining balance is treated as though you had cashed out in the first place, and you’ll then be charged taxes and the ten percent penalty on those funds.

Also, if you lose your job the balance becomes due and you’re typically given somewhere between one to two months to finish repaying the loan. If you don’t, then the balance is treated as though you cashed it out originally, and you’ll be charged the penalty and taxes on whatever you can’t repay.

On the upside, however, the internet on a 401k loan is very low compared to any of your other borrowing options, and the interest you pay goes straight into your retirement plan, so you’re paying the interest to your future self instead of a company. This is a big plus, and a large part of why so many people decide to take the risk.

If you feel you have no other option except to cash out your retirement account than borrowing instead and trying to make payments is certainly a better option for you, but if you have another option for getting funds I’d definitely recommend considering that first.