Can you use your 401K to pay off student loans?

With student loan debt averaging over $38,000 per borrower, many find themselves torn between paying off education debt and saving for retirement. If you’re feeling the squeeze of your monthly student loan payments, you might be eyeing your 401(k) as a potential solution. While it’s technically possible to use retirement funds to pay off student loans.

The hefty penalties and long-term costs usually make this a costly last resort. The good news? There are smarter ways to manage your student loan debt without sacrificing your future retirement security. Before making any decisions about your 401(k), let’s explore why this approach often backfires—and what alternatives might work better for your financial future.

How a 401k retirement plan works 

A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement account that lets you save money for the future while reducing your taxable income. 401(k) accounts are designed for long-term retirement savings, which is why accessing the money early comes with significant restrictions.

Let’s get straight to the facts about taking money from your 401(k) to pay student loans. While you can access these retirement funds, the process comes with some pretty major strings. You have two main options: a hardship withdrawal or a 401(k) loan.

Penalties for early withdrawal

With a hardship withdrawal, you’ll face an immediate 10% early withdrawal penalty if you’re under 59½ years old. On top of that, you’ll owe regular income taxes on the entire amount withdrawn. For example, if you withdraw $20,000 and are in the 22% tax bracket, you could end up paying $6,400 in taxes and penalties—leaving you with just $13,600 to put toward your loans.

A 401(k) loan might seem more appealing since you avoid the 10% penalty. However, you’ll need to repay the loan with interest within five years. If you leave your job for any reason, the entire loan typically becomes due within 60-90 days. Missing this deadline means the loan converts to a withdrawal, triggering those same taxes and penalties you were trying to avoid. That leads to a great deal of variability and uncertainty. 

The true cost of using your 401(k) early 

The real cost of using your retirement plan to pay off student loan payments goes far beyond the immediate penalties and taxes. Here is a hypothetical financial example to demonstrate why this decision could seriously impact your financial future.

Consider this: If you withdraw $30,000 from your 401(k) at age 30, you’re not just losing that amount. Assuming a 7% average annual return, that $30,000 has the potential to grow over $227,000 by the time you retire at 65. Which amounts to $200,000 in lost retirement savings—far more than your original student loan balance.

You’ll also miss out on valuable employer matching contributions during the time you’re rebuilding your account. Let’s say your employer matches 50% of your contributions up to 6% of your total annual salary, and you make $60,000 a year, that’s $1,800 in “free money” you could be losing each year.*

* Example listed above is for illustrative purposes only. 

Other options to help pay your student loan debt

There are other ways to help pay off your student loan debt and manage these expenses. Instead of tapping into your retirement plan, several smart alternatives can help manage student loan payments while keeping your 401(k) intact.

Refinancing 

Refinancing your student loans¹ could significantly lower your interest rate and monthly payments, especially if your credit score has improved since you first borrowed². 

Income driven repayment plans 

Income-driven repayment plans³  can also make federal student loans more manageable by capping your monthly payments at a percentage of your discretionary income. This helps keep your payments affordable while you keep making matching contributions to your retirement plan.

Secure 2.0 Act

SECURE 2.0 Act, allows employers to match your student loan payments with contributions to your 401(k). Employers can now match your student loan payments with contributions to your 401(k). So if you can’t afford to contribute to your retirement plan because of student loan payments, your employer can still provide matching contributions based on what you’re paying toward your loans. This law allows borrowers to tackle debt while building retirement savings simultaneously. 

Beyond the above, borrowers looking for help with student loan debt should also seek out employers offering student loan repayment assistance programs. You could also explore side income streams to help put dedicated money to extra loan payments. 

Consider refinancing with Earnest 

If you are considering refinancing, Earnest offers refinancing with zero fees—that means no origination fees, no prepayment penalties, and absolutely no hidden charges, ever. It takes just two minutes to check your personalized rate without impacting your credit score. And you can select from up to 180 different ways to customize your loan to fit your unique financial needs.

And if rates or your situation changes, you can now refinance your existing Earnest loan after just 30 days of disbursement⁴, as long as you’re current on your payments and not enrolled in a hardship program. Ready to see how much you could save? Check your rate in minutes—because your financial journey should be on your terms.