If you are under age 59 ½ , then you might have to pay a penalty to get your hands on your 401K or IRA funds. If you were impacted by COVID in 2020, then you can withdrawal up to 100K from these retirement plans by the end of 2020 and not have to pay the 10% penalty. In addition, you can spread the income out over 3 years (pay tax on it evenly in 2020, 2021, and 2022)