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View Full Version : Can you remove money from a 403b plan to buy a vacation condo or a time share


stormynight1
Sep 10, 2010, 04:15 PM

ebaines
Sep 14, 2010, 06:03 AM
Depends. You may be able to access your account if you are no longer an employee of the organization you worked for when you were contributing to your 403(b). If this is the case you can take a withdrawal, but you will have to pay income taxes plus the 10% early withdrawal penalty (if you are under age 59-1/2). In general this would not be a wise decision - if you need to dip into your retirement savings to buy a vacation home perhaps you should be rethinking whether you are financially able to affford a vacation home.

If you are still an active employee of the organization where you contributed to your 403(b), in all likelihood you are not allowed to take a withdrawal for this purpose. However, plans differ from employer to employer, so read the plan documenation, or call the plan administrator to ask. Something else to consider: the plan may offer the option of taking a loan, which has the advantage of not being a taxable withdrawal and does not incur any early withdrawal penalty.