Why the 401(k) Has Become a Rainy Day Fund

WSJ Your Money Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

News, Business News

3.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

More Americans are breaking into their 401(k) accounts to help with financial emergencies. Wall Street Journal reporter Anne Tergesen joins host Julia Carpenter to discuss the uptick in hardship withdrawals and what you should know before taking one. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Americans love using their credit cards, the most secure and hassle-free way to pay.
0:04.0	But DC politicians want to change that with the Durban Marshall Credit Card Bill.
0:08.0	This bill lets corporate megastores pick how your credit card is processed,
0:13.0	allowing them to use untested payment networks that jeopardize your data security and rewards.
0:18.0	Corporate megastores will make more money and you pay the price.
0:22.1	Tell Congress to Guard Your Card because Americans lose when politicians choose. Learn more at
0:28.1	guardyercard.com.
0:32.9	Here's your money briefing for Thursday, March 13th. I'm Julia Carpenter for the Wall Street Journal.
0:43.3	More 401k account holders are taking hardship withdrawals from their retirement savings to help handle financial emergencies.
0:50.3	More and more employers are automatically enrolling their entire workforce into 401ks.
0:56.6	You're not only getting the higher earners who can easily afford to save.
1:02.6	You're getting a lot of people who maybe can't actually afford to save.
1:07.7	We'll talk to Wall Street Journal reporter Ann Turgesson about the issues affecting
1:11.4	this uptick and withdrawals. After the break. Here's the truth about AI. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into.
1:33.3	ServiceNow puts AI to work for people across your business, removing friction and frustration for your employees,
1:40.3	supercharging productivity for your developers, providing intelligent tools for your service agents to make customers happier, all built into a single platform you can use right now. That's why the world works with ServiceNow.
1:54.7	Visit ServiceNow.com slash UK slash AI for people. financial. Financial emergencies are causing more Americans to break into their 401k accounts.
2:09.8	Wall Street Journal reporter Ann Turgesson joins me to talk more.
2:13.4	Okay, Ann, it seems like Americans are facing a pretty complicated economic picture.
2:18.7	Unemployment is low, and workers' earnings are on the rise again. But at the same time,
2:24.3	people are falling behind on credit card and auto loan payments, and grocery prices remain a huge
2:30.1	stressor for American families. How does that 401k withdrawal uptick that you've reported on
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.