When you can’t pay your bills or feed your family, there’s only so much that retirement communication can do.
Despite pleas from plan sponsors and financial planners to refrain from taking withdrawals from 401(k) plans, a record number of plan participants did just that during the second quarter, a new Fidelity report confirms.
Among Fidelity’s17,000 plans, representing some 11 million participants, 62,000 workers initiated a hardship withdrawal—a large spike from the 45,000 who did so last year during the same time, and marking a 10-year high in withdrawal activity.
Worse, Fidelity finds that 45% of participants who took a hardship withdrawal last year took another one this year, the Associated Press reports.
This is bad news all around—for participants, for plan sponsors, for the economy overall. Sorry to bring such glum news on a Friday. If you have any good news to share to perk up the mood, please do so. I’ll start: my sweet little boy turns 5 on Monday, and I’m taking a vacation day to help him celebrate. (So, no new post on Monday.)
Okay, your turn. Share some good news in the comments.
