401(k) Loan
Loan feature that lets a worker borrow against a 401(k) balance, creating short-term liquidity at the cost of retirement-plan complexity and lost compounding.
Personal-finance terms for 401(k) loans, IRA five-year rules, inherited IRAs, RMDs, stretch IRAs, and systematic withdrawal plans.
Retirement Withdrawals, Loans, and RMDs is the personal-finance area for 401(k) loans, IRA five-year rules, inherited IRAs, RMDs, stretch IRA language, and systematic withdrawal plans. These terms matter when they change when retirement money leaves an account, whether rules require it, and how loans or withdrawals affect taxes and income.
Use this page as orientation before relying on a narrower term. Check the account type, age, beneficiary status, loan policy, required-distribution calculation, tax form, and withdrawal date before treating a definition as decision-ready. Use Rollovers & Withdrawals for the broader branch, then move to the narrower page when an account, rule, contract, benefit formula, or cash-flow measure controls the decision. Related context often appears in Taxation, Investing, and Risk Management, but this page keeps the focus on household finance rather than product sales or personalized advice.
| Topic or term | Best use |
|---|---|
| 401(k) Loan | Loan feature that lets a worker borrow against a 401(k) balance, creating short-term liquidity at the cost of retirement-plan complexity and lost compounding. |
| 5-Year Rule for IRAs | Set of IRA timing rules that often determines when Roth earnings, conversions, or inherited-account distributions receive favorable tax treatment. |
| Inherited IRA | IRA held by a beneficiary after the original account owner dies, with distribution rules that differ from those for an owner’s own retirement account. |
| Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) | Mandatory minimum withdrawal rule that applies to many tax-deferred retirement accounts once the owner reaches the required age. |
| Stretch IRA | Legacy inherited-IRA planning idea focused on extending tax-deferred growth over a beneficiary’s lifetime or payout period. |
| Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) | Withdrawal strategy that pays a fixed or scheduled amount from an investment or retirement account. |
A required minimum distribution is rule-driven, while a systematic withdrawal plan is a chosen payout method unless account rules require otherwise.
Use official sources for current rules, limits, forms, and eligibility details. This page avoids hard-coding figures that can change.
Retirement Withdrawals, Loans, and RMDs is for financial education and vocabulary building. It is not personalized financial, investment, tax, legal, insurance, retirement, or benefits advice. For decisions with legal, tax, insurance, or investment consequences, confirm the current rule and consider a qualified professional who can review the specific facts.
Choose a subsection first. Deeper term pages live inside each subsection, which keeps large topic hubs readable.
Loan feature that lets a worker borrow against a 401(k) balance, creating short-term liquidity at the cost of retirement-plan complexity and lost compounding.
Set of IRA timing rules that often determines when Roth earnings, conversions, or inherited-account distributions receive favorable tax treatment.
IRA held by a beneficiary after the original account owner dies, with distribution rules that differ from those for an owner’s own retirement account.
Mandatory minimum withdrawal rule that applies to many tax-deferred retirement accounts once the owner reaches the required age.
Legacy inherited-IRA planning idea focused on extending tax-deferred growth over a beneficiary's lifetime or payout period.
Withdrawal strategy that pays a fixed or scheduled amount from an investment or retirement account.