i have a retirement savings.how do you get all your money out in times of need?

i am now layed off with no call back.

Public Comments

1. Avoid touching this if at all possible. Retirement can't be "financed", and it is important not to sacrifice what you have done to prepare for the future, just because you have a bump in the road today. When you are older, you will be glad you took the "long view" rather than a short one. You will end up paying tax (if it was pretax) plus a 10% penatly. Try and find some sort of part ime (or multiple part time) work until you land a job. If you don't have emergency funds, you may need to think about "down sizing" your lifestyle for now. For example, if you have a car with payments, sell it and get a cheap used car with no payments (at least for now). If you have a mortgage, perhaps you need to move out of the house (for now), rent it, and move into a small apartment thereby letting the tenants pay for the house (fornow) and having a smaller cash outlay (for rent). You may even need to sell the house, invest the money , rent a place, and buy again later when you have a job. Sell some of your stuff (craig's place, ebay etc.) That may buy you some time. Cutting into your retirment money must really be a last resort.
2. You obviously need it since you asked this question several times. Just know that it will take about 3 months to get any money.