- unreimbursed medical costs > 7.5% of your income
- college costs
- healthcare costs if you lost your job
- first home purchase expense up to 10,000
Withdrawals before retirement. If you take 401(k) withdrawals before age 55, you will generally have to pay income tax and a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty on the amount withdrawn. That means if you withdraw $5,000 from your 401(k) at age 50 and you are in the 25 percent tax bracket, you will only get to keep $3,250. Cracking into your nest egg early is expensive and should be avoided if you have other funds available. "In general, wait as long as you can until you withdraw from these accounts, and if you need the money, take out as little as possible and try to avoid the 10 percent penalty," says Rick Salmeron, a certified financial planner and founder of Salmeron Financial in Dallas. If you roll the money over to an IRA, there are several government-approved ways to spend your nest egg that don't incur the early withdrawal penalty, including unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of your income, health insurance after a job loss, college costs, and a first home purchase up to $10,000.
Oops, там как раз про rollover to IRA.