I had a part in our company's Aesop program and then the company was bought by another company when the owner died. I also am vested in our 401k. Well, this is what has my head spinning: 1)The company found out that they cannot legally keep the Aesop program because of they way it is now structured and 2)they decided to put that money into a 401k. 3) they decided to go with a different investment program ( from one company to a different one altogether) 4)it caused the 1st company to penalize ME by 2K. 5)I asked several months ago about cashing out the money altogether and was told that I could not do that 6)my wife lost her job and I thought that was considered a financial hardship, but can't seem to get any STRAIGHT answers from our plan administrator. 6)I need to know if there is some way to get to the money NOW and what kind of penalties are involved.


I don't know what to do. I don't even know who to contact outside of our business, that could help me to get REAL answers.. . Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Yes you can get the money now but you should expect a 10% penalty on taxes.