The penalty typically is only 10%, and of course depending on the type of plan if the funds were not taxed going in then they are taxed as regular income. The penalty only applies for people younger then 59 1/2
There also are ways to make emergency withdrawals but for short periods and then they have to be paid back in.

If you withdraw on Jan 01 then the tax isn't due until 15 1/2 months later, but the banks may take some of it out up front to try and deter withdrawals.

People that go into retirement accounts to make payments on RE they can not afford are delusional, they will default later anyway in almost every case. These accounts are federally protected even in the case of bankruptcy and are the best (only?) hedge honest people that proceed in good faith have.

They dangle all these relief bills out there to give the middle class hope of a bailout if they can just hang in there long enough. It's a trap.

They will never help middle class people, there are no FEMA free money credit cards for the flooded cities in WA state, they are just trying to pick the middle class clean.

MEW, 401k, plastic... We still forgot one option:

A low, low interest rate of 396 percent

_{Struggling Cleveland homeowners are taking out payday loans when they fall short. Is it a quick source of cash or legalized loan sharking?}

At the East Side Organizing Project in Cleveland, six home owners recently went in for group foreclosure counseling. When asked if any had taken out payday loans, four hands shot up.

A payday loan is a small-dollar, short-term loan with fees that can add up to interest rates of almost 400 percent. They're generally taken out when the borrower is caught short on cash and promises to pay the balance back next payday.

If it sounds like legal loan-sharking, it's not. "Loan sharks are actually cheaper," said Bill Faith, a leader of the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending.

The industry portrays it as emergency cash, but critics say the business model depends on repeat borrowing where the original loans are rolled over again and again.