<prompt> Human: My girlfriend has some credit card debt 10K. She would like to take out a loan against her 401K to pay off her credit card debt. The interest rate on her loan will be 6 a lot lower than credit cards. I mentioned that she must destroy her credit cards and pay off the loan consistently otherwise is just taking on additional debt. Can you offer any additional advice, is this a good idea?  <response>: The interest you pay in a 401k loan is actually to yourself, however you are giving up any gains that money would make while not in the market. Also keep in mind that if she leavesquits her job then its almost certain she will have to pay the loan back within a few weeks or it will be considered an early distribution and subject to taxes and a 10 penalty. 