Failure to repay your 401 (k) loan on time If you miss your repayment deadline, your employer must file a Form 1099-R with the IRS. That means your remaining loan balance is considered income to you and taxed at your ordinary income tax rate. In addition, you will likely have to pay a penalty of 10% of the balance. 401k Loan Repayment after Leaving a Job. The biggest fear that surrounds borrowing from a 401k is what will happen if you leave the job either voluntarily or involuntarily. Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, loan repayments must have been met within 60 days. See full list on irs.gov.

Thinking about a 401k loan? A 401k is meant to fund retirement, but you can withdraw money from it earlier. It goes against personal finance philosophy to take money out of a retirement accountbefore retirement, but under the right circumstances, it is something to consider.

A 401k Refresher

By now most of you know what a 401k is but for those new to the site, this will get you up to speed. A 401k is an employer-sponsored retirement account.

Employee contributions are deducted directly from your paycheck before they are taxed.

The money is invested in one of the funds offered by the employer. If you’re lucky, your employer matches your contribution.

This is free money. For the year 2020, you can contribute up to $19,500.

Because that money is meant for retirement, withdrawals are discouraged before you reach age 59 ½.

If you withdraw money before that age, you will be hit with a 10% penalty on the loan amount and pay federal income tax on the amount withdrawn.

There are some exceptions (known as a hardship withdrawal).

If you:

• are no longer working for your employer at age 55 (The Rule of 55)
• are using the money to pay medical expenses
• have become disabled
• must perform military duty
• must follow a court order

There are lots of good reasons to invest in a 401k. Not many people get a pension anymore so a 401k may be their only retirement plan.

There is also a low bar to invest in a 401k. Your employer does the work; you just have to opt-in. You don’t have to know anything about investing to get started.

Contributions are taken directly from your paycheck, so you never have a chance to spend the money. For some people, this is the only way they will save for retirement.

The money goes in and grows tax-free. This can help reduce your taxable income and bump you down to a lower tax bracket.

When you retire and need the money, most of us will be in a lower tax bracket than we were during our working years, so that is a tax saving.

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A 401k can also be a great place to borrow money from.

How Does a 401k Loan Work?

Borrowing against your 401K means, you are borrowing from yourself. Unlike borrowing from a bank, the interest you pay, you pay to yourself.

The amount you borrowed is no longer invested so rather than getting investment gains; your “gain” is the interest you payback.

How Much Can You Borrow?

You can borrow up to $50,000 if you have a vested balance of at least $100,000 or 50% of the value, whichever is less.

You indicate to your plan administrator the account you want to borrow money from. Those investments will be liquidated. You will lose any gains those investments might make during the duration of the loan. Depending on the plan rules, you may or may not be allowed to continue making pre-tax contributions.

Repayment Terms

You have five years to pay back a 401k loan.

There is no early repayment penalty. Most plans allow you to repay the loan through payroll deductions, the same way you invested the money.

Good Reasons to Borrow Against a 401k

Short-Term

If you need money fast and for a short period, a year or less, borrowing from your 401k can be a good solution. You’ll have the money quickly sometimes within a few days, and the process is convenient. Some plans allow you to do everything online.

The cost will be low, you usually just pay a small origination or administration fee. You won’t have to go through a bank, so you avoid all the paperwork and credit checks. Borrowing from your 401k has no impact on your credit.

Borrowing from your 401k for a home purchase whether it’s a home to live in or a rental property, can be a good investment. Primarily if you can use the money for a bigger down payment because that reduces the amount of long-term interest you will pay on your mortgage and can help you avoid PMI.

The interest on a 401k loan usually won’t exceed the prime rate by more than two points, but that number can vary.

It’s also a good option if your credit score is too low to get a reasonable interest rate on a loan.

Refinancing credit card debt is another good reason to borrow against your 401k because you’re paying yourself back at a much lower interest rate than you’re paying to a credit card company.

Borrowing money from your 401k for educational expenses can also be worthwhile. You can avoid taking on student loan debt, and additional education can improve your career prospects.

Bad Reasons to Borrow Against a 401k

If you’re borrowing money for ordinary expenses that should be part of your budget like mortgage or rent payments you have a spending problem. These are not unexpected expenses; they are what it costs to live your life. You either need to spend less money or make more, ideally both.

Your 401k is also not an emergency fund. You should have at least $1000 in an emergency fund and ultimately six month’s worth of expenses. That is the money you use for an unexpected expense like a significant car or home repair.

Your 401k is not a source of discretionary spending. Do not pay for things like a vacation or a house full of new furniture. Those are things you have to save up for. Your 401k isn’t savings; it’s retirementsavings.

Myths About Borrowing Against a 401k

There is a lot of fear-mongering about borrowing from your 401k and for a good reason. Not everyone who does it would make good use of the money by investing in a home or an education.

If borrowing were not discouraged, too many people would raid their account for silly reasons that will hurt their retirement savings.

But not all of the doom and gloom is entirely true. Borrowing from your 401k is not necessarily damaging to your retirement savings. When you pay the loan (yourself) back, the payments go back into your investments.

Because you’re paying interest, you’re paying back a little more than you borrowed, so you’re putting additional money into the account.

As long as any interest payments are the same or greater than what you lost during the time that money wasn’t invested, your savings aren’t affected and can increase if the interest is more than any earnings losses.

Is A 401k Loan Taxed Twice

Another myth is that when you borrow from your 401k, you are being taxed twice because you’re paying the loan back with after-tax money.

But in truth, only the interest part of the repayment is treated that way. And being twice taxed on interest from this kind of loan is likely to cost less than what it would cost to borrow money in another way.

401k Loan Repayment after Leaving a Job

The biggest fear that surrounds borrowing from a 401k is what will happen if you leave the job either voluntarily or involuntarily. Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, loan repayments must have been met within 60 days.

Nowadays you have until your tax return’s due date (with extensions) for the year you left your job.

For example, if you left your job in 2020, you’d have until April 15, 2021, to repay your loan (or October 15, 2021, if you file an extension).

Any outstanding loan balance not repaid on time will be seen as an early withdrawal and subject to an early withdrawal penalty.

This understandably freaks people out. Ideally, you won’t borrow against your 401k if you feel that you are in danger of losing your job or you plan to leave shortly. If your job is stable, this fear is mostly unfounded.

Of course, all of us are expendable. What if you do lose your job and have to pay the money back?

Irs Loans From 401k Contribution

Well, we don’t have debtor’s prisoners anymore (for now), so it’s not like you’ll be locked up. What will happen is that the IRS will classify the remaining balance as an early withdrawal, hit you with a 10% penalty on that amount, and require you pay taxes on the distribution.

Bottom Line

There indeed can be negative consequences if you borrow from your 401k but they are not as dire as we have been led to believe. It’s your own money. You’re repaying yourself and not a bank.

401k loans carry low interest rates (e.g., compared to personal loans).

It’s usually a bad idea to take out a line of credit against your retirement funds. However, if it’s used in the short-term and repaid immediately, the consequences will be negligible.

For example, using the money towards a downpayment on a home or to pay off high-interest credit card debt, the payoff can be worth it.

Irs Loans From 401k

Show Notes

Irs Loans From 401k Rollover

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Loans From 401k Plans

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