I Agree You Lose Alot of money...

BUT we did it yrs. Ago . It was about 8,000 Not too Much
We were pretty young and Sounds Like our situation was similar to yours.
And I Will Say that , It did make a Big difference in our Lives then- And It Helped Us In That time ALOT.
No one could have told us NOT to Touch that Money.
NO ONE Could have told that young couple that they couldn't Pay off their bills and end the Fighting over money Only to have that money their for them in 50 yrs. We Felt we needed to do it ...
And It made us Happy then ... And For us it was a good Step.

My sister has also Borrowed against her 401 K In an Emergency. - That may be a Better Route dependent upon your needs.

We went back and forth trying to decide if we should cash mine out to pay some bills down, and although the fees are outrageous, and it should be for emergencies, for my piece of mind not having cc debt, we're taking mine out. I'm still relatively young, so I can start over in my new job.

Good luck with whatever decision you make.

First of all I must say, I'm a HUGE Dave Ramsey fan. If you haven't read his book, go get "The Total Money Makeover"! It really has changed our financial future.

On that note, here's what I think Dave would say... If you take out cash and pay off your bills all at once like that, statistically speaking (and I don't remember the percentage) it's VERY likely you'll just rack those bills right up again. I'm sure you'd probably say you won't - but I'm sure everyone says that and most do...

I personally wouldn't do it. I'd find a way to make more money instead... have dh work a 2nd job, I'd get a job, have a garage sale... anything! Maybe selling one or both of your cars and paying cash to buy beaters for the time being.

We've been working to pay off our debt and watching the balance go down each month has been so empowering. I think we're A LOT less likely to rack up bills again because we DO NOT want to be in debt again. In fact once my van is paid off we'll be saving for DH's next car. He says he wants another beater. He does not want to spend our hard earned money on a car. (this is opposite of what he was thinking a year ago)

JMO. Good luck in whatever you decide.

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Stay at home mom to my 3 boys... ages 5, 3 & 1!

I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13