Yeah, unless its an emergency don't go messing around with your retirement plan. You will end up losing money if you do. The IRS will dig its hands into it and thats never a good thing.
I have looked into it, and from what I was seeing online, unless my company went under, I actually couldn't take out the money I had invested in the account. That said, I can't imagine anyone deciding to take that money on a whim, simply because of the staggering costs involved. Those penalties seem off the wall.
I have had to withdraw from my retirement plan before. I feel there are some emergency occasions where it may be necessary for you to pull the money out of your account. I know it may set you back but when your savings account cannot aid you fully in your emergency then the retirement fund is your next crisis saver. You just have to deal with the IRS hit sometimes.
