<prompt> Human: Hello!My employer currently matches all of my 401k contributions at a flat 25 and I am fully vested. I am putting in about 15 of my income which does not come close to hitting the max, but its all I can afford with my other costs.My question is, since the penalty for early withdrawal of a 401k is 10, does it make sense to max out my contribution and then withdraw money from my 401k when I need to make large expenditures car maintenance, new car, christmas presents, vacations. Typically, I keep my bank account padded to some degree to absorb non-monthly costs.Is there a mechanism in place from my employer or the IRS to prevent the system from being abused this way?Thanks!  <response>: Definitely max your 401K if you get a match. That is leaving money on the table. There are some situations where you can take a loan from 401K or withdraw without the penalty buying a house etc.. You may want to use one of those clauses to take the money out. 