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Comment by drivebyhooting

14 hours ago

Oh yes, thanks for reminding me. I’m going to cash out the 401(k).

You’ll pay massive penalties on that, another option is options (heh) but I’m not finance-literate enough to know how to pull it off.

  • I’ve made my peace with the “massive penalties”. I benefited from employer match in the past. I want the money now, not when I retire.

    • You gotta do what you think is best, but I hope for future you's sake you decide to not pull the money out. Or if you do you have other retirement plans.

      I'm trying to help my parents now their at retirement age and am seeing first hand what not planning for your future looks like. They hit retirement with nothing but a small social security check every month. Not even enough to cover rent in most places.

      I don't know how much you have in your 401k, but it will be worth literally hundreds of thousands more if you pull it out when you retire. You aren't just paying the penalties now, you're paying for potentially decades of compounding.

      2 replies →

  • You could just buy deep out of money SP500 puts expiring in 1+ year. That way you would be "insured" against the bubble popping.

    The thing is, every dollar you spend on insurance is a dollar (and its interest) you lose. Furthermore, we don't know when it will pop. 1 year? 5 years?

    The more reasonable solution is probably gradually reduce exposure to US markets by selling SP500 shares and turning to Europe and emerging markets ETFs. No need to cash out 401k.