Record Number Of Emergency 401K Withdrawals in Trump's 2025 "Golden Age" Economy

[drudge X]

It's worse under Trump. You have a hard time convincing me he's trying to "fix" this. I honestly don't think he really cares.

If you are honest, you would say no president really gives a damn about the little people.

My 401K is up considerably under Trump as with my other investments.

 

[drudge X]

So far all the right has done in this thread is spin:

• "But the 401Ks are up!" => Median value is $35K so no one got a windfall of money.
• "Boomers are panicking, they'll be sorry!" => Emergency withdrawals are for under 59 1/2 years old having financial problems.
• "But.. but...but...It's Biden's fault"! => A year and a half later and getting way worse under Trump, 50% worse
• "But.. but.. but... GDP was [artificially] high in Q3!" => Righties hanging on to the gold spike in Q3 that made GDP higher

Not my fault if your investment strategy sucks. Mine is doing extremely well.

 

[WorldWatcher]

My 401K is up considerably under Trump as with my other investments.

My 401K is up under all prior Presidents as with my other investments.

The advantage of the long haul.

WW

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

Like Biden's progressive dementia that leftists never noticed, citigator never recalls how terrible inflation was under democrats and their demented leader.

Because all they know is what they’re told by their Pravda handlers and each other.

 

[Unkotare]

Trump's declaration last week that we are in a "Golden Age Economy" may have been premature. Investment Companies are reporting a record number of people withdrew emergency funds from their 401K's last year to make ends meet. The number of people taking loans doubled from just 3 years ago and is 3Xs the number pre-pandemic.

This is just another clear sign of an economy that is working for the top and crumbling for the middle and bottom.

A record share of Americans are taking emergency withdrawals from their 401(k)s

More Americans are digging into their retirement savings for emergency expenses, research from Vanguard shows.

www.cbsnews.com

A record share of Americans are tapping their retirement savings accounts to cover emergency expenses, according to new data from financial services firm Vanguard.

In 2025, 6% of people enrolled in Vanguard 401(k) plans made so-called hardship withdrawals from their accounts, up from 5% in 2024, according to the company's 2026 report on Americans' savings habits.

The share of workers tapping hardship withdrawals has risen in recent years, reflecting the financial pressure many households face when unexpected bills hit. Hardship withdrawals are permitted by the IRS for a limited number of financial issues, including covering medical care or payments to avoid eviction or foreclosure.

The rising incidence of hardship withdrawals highlights the importance of setting aside money for emergencies, Vanguard's Jeff Clark, head of defined contribution research and the author of the report on savings, told CBS News.

The OP just listens to NPR and repeats their agenda here.

 

[Marener]

If you are honest, you would say no president really gives a damn about the little people.

My 401K is up considerably under Trump as with my other investments.

This feels like the "got mine, **** you" kind of rhetoric we see commonly from conservatives.

 

[citygator]

Not my fault if your investment strategy sucks. Mine is doing extremely well.

Maybe you missed the information above. The median 401k is only $35,000 so being so broke you are going to take a little more out in your hour of emergency is no consolation.

My investment strategy is just fine by the way. I am not part of the working class group. Trump's policies are great for me.

 

[drudge X]

My 401K is up under all prior Presidents as with my other investments.

The advantage of the long haul.

WW

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But according to leftists, the economy should crash already under Trump. They made the same shit prediction during his first term.

 

[citygator]

My 401K is up under all prior Presidents as with my other investments.

The advantage of the long haul.

WW

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Again... the points:

• Working class people are so broke they are borrowing from their tiny 401ks where the median is $35k
• The wealthy are doing just fine sitting around and benefitting from record consolidations of wealth
• Your point on 401ks going up help the rich and does little for the working class

 

[drudge X]

Maybe you missed the information above. The median 401k is only $35,000 so being so broke you are going to take a little more out in your hour of emergency is no consolation.

My investment strategy is just fine by the way. I am not part of the working class group. Trump's policies are great for me.

Perhaps you should look at the root of the problem as why the median 401K is only $35,000. Teaching financial planning in schools instead of social justice and other leftist fantasies which they want the entire nation to believe can make a world of different.

 

[citygator]

Perhaps you should look at the root of the problem as why the median 401K is only $35,000. Teaching financial planning in schools instead of social justice and other leftist fantasies which they want the entire nation to believe can make a world of different.

Yea.. 300M out of 330M people are broke in the US which is the most productive workforce in the world with nearly the highest hours worked per year per person so clearly the problem is laziness and frivolity. Give me a break dude. Its structural.

 

[Lisa558]

Yea.. 300M out of 330M people are broke in the US which is the most productive workforce in the world with nearly the highest hours worked per year per person so clearly the problem is laziness and frivolity. Give me a break dude. Its structural.

So you’re saying that 90% of people are broke? Even though 40% of families bring in $100k+, and 25% bring in $150k?

That’s a spending problem.

 

[citygator]

So you’re saying that 90% of people are broke? Even though 40% of families bring in $100k+, and 25% bring in $150k?

That’s a spending problem.

Nope. Its an income inequity issue.

• Median Transaction Account Balance: The median American has $8,000 in savings/checking, while the average is $62,410, highlighting a large disparity where high earners skew the average upward.
• Income Bracket Breakdown: According to Bankrate, the lowest quarter of Americans have a median savings of only $900.
• Only 46% of U.S. adults have enough emergency savings to cover three months of expenses, notes Bankrate's Emergency Savings Report.

 

[Lisa558]

Nope. Its an income inequity issue.

• Median Transaction Account Balance: The median American has $8,000 in savings/checking, while the average is $62,410, highlighting a large disparity where high earners skew the average upward.
• Income Bracket Breakdown: According to Bankrate, the lowest quarter of Americans have a median savings of only $900.
• Only 46% of U.S. adults have enough emergency savings to cover three months of expenses, notes Bankrate's Emergency Savings Report.

Inequity!!

The point is that 46% of American families have six-figure incomes. All of them should have a nice emergency cushion.

As far as the low savings of the middle class, they need to ramp down their spending so they can save more. I know people who go to Europe and on cruises and have NO emergency savings, live in a house with two spare bedrooms, and buy fully-loaded new cars every 6 or 7 years.

 

[drudge X]

Yea.. 300M out of 330M people are broke in the US which is the most productive workforce in the world with nearly the highest hours worked per year per person so clearly the problem is laziness and frivolity. Give me a break dude. Its structural.

Let’s breakdown the numbers a bit.

44% of workers do not have a 401K.

Almost half of Americans do not know what a 401K is.

46% have no clue where their money is invested in a 401K.

So is this a government problem or people problem?

 

[WEATHER53]

Misinformation
Boomers are utilizing 401 at a record rate and amount because of their record number and record contributions
Fake fright failed

 

[struth]

Trump's declaration last week that we are in a "Golden Age Economy" may have been premature. Investment Companies are reporting a record number of people withdrew emergency funds from their 401K's last year to make ends meet. The number of people taking loans doubled from just 3 years ago and is 3Xs the number pre-pandemic.

This is just another clear sign of an economy that is working for the top and crumbling for the middle and bottom.

A record share of Americans are taking emergency withdrawals from their 401(k)s

More Americans are digging into their retirement savings for emergency expenses, research from Vanguard shows.

www.cbsnews.com

A record share of Americans are tapping their retirement savings accounts to cover emergency expenses, according to new data from financial services firm Vanguard.

In 2025, 6% of people enrolled in Vanguard 401(k) plans made so-called hardship withdrawals from their accounts, up from 5% in 2024, according to the company's 2026 report on Americans' savings habits.

The share of workers tapping hardship withdrawals has risen in recent years, reflecting the financial pressure many households face when unexpected bills hit. Hardship withdrawals are permitted by the IRS for a limited number of financial issues, including covering medical care or payments to avoid eviction or foreclosure.

The rising incidence of hardship withdrawals highlights the importance of setting aside money for emergencies, Vanguard's Jeff Clark, head of defined contribution research and the author of the report on savings, told CBS News.

Up one percent from the 5% record setting 2024.....early in 2025 people were still recovering from the Xiden/Dembot disaster.

 

[Lisa558]

Let’s breakdown the numbers a bit.

44% of workers do not have a 401K.

Almost half of Americans do not know what a 401K is.

46% have no clue where their money is invested in a 401K.

So is this a government problem or people problem?

People problem!

My grandparents lived in cheap tenement apartments, stretched out food, bought second-hand clothes….in order for them to build and maintain what they called a “rainy day fund.”

They COULD have rented a nicer place, and spent every last cent they earned, but they knew they needed to have money in the bank in case Grandpa lost his job or got sick. (No sick leave in those days.)

That’s how responsible people lived back then.

 

[toobfreak]

Trump's declaration last week that we are in a "Golden Age Economy" may have been premature. Investment Companies are reporting a record number of people withdrew emergency funds from their 401K's last year to make ends meet.

Hey dummy, last year was 2025. If record numbers of people are withdrawing their 401K's in 2025, it is from the hardships of living through four years of Joe Biden before that, not due to just a few months under Trump. BTW, until Oct. of 2025, we were still operating under Biden's old budget.

But thanks for once again shooting yourself in your own face.

 

[Dekster]

IDK. I sometimes think emergency withdrawals aren't really emergencies so much as people preferring to do that as opposed to paying bills another way, or not keeping enough cash on hand because they assume their 401K will do better than a CD. I recently helped pay for the funeral expenses of a YOLO relative. I was the only one in the family who had the cash on hand to pay the total costs upfront and then the others tapped their 401Ks to pay me back their share. One borrowed the money from their retirement and the other one just took a big draw for their share of the costs plus other things.