<prompt> Human: This may be a bit of a dumb question, but Im definitely not an expert in finance. I recently got a new job and I need to decide what to do with my old 401k. Theres not a fortune in it, only 3400. Im leaning towards cashing it out to help pay down some high interest credit cards: one is 850 26 interest, the other 2400 11. I know Ill end up losing 30-35 to penalties and taxes, but is it worth it to decrease my debt? Thanks for any help!  <response>: No.What do you make?3000 in debt is not that bad. Taking another 10 penalty to pay that off is almost assuredly more than itd be worth it. 