<prompt> Human: Hello all,As the title states, Id like to get some advice on what to do with my old 401k. To begin with a bit of a back story, in the past, I was employed by an oil field service company and had a 100k salary. Over a couple of years, I saved roughly 50k and used it to put a down payment on a house. This year, like many others, I was laid off from work. Luckily, I have now found a new job, but it only pays about 70k. I currently have about 65k floating around. There are 42k in my old employers 401k, 11k in stocks from my old company, and 13k in an old IRA. Id like your advice on what to do with this money. I have thought of three options. 1 Keep it where it is, and watch it slowly inch up, tiny bit amounts per month. 2 Take the hit with the 10 withdraw penalty, and put it towards my house, thus far saving money on not paying so much interest on my current mortgage? or 3 Take the 10 hit, but instead buy a second house and leasing it out. I am not sure where to go with these types of questions. I wouldnt mind paying someone for financial advice, but I feel like they only want you to put your money with them regardless of the benefits or losses to the customer. Thanks in advance!  <response>: 2 Take the hit with the 10 withdraw penalty, and put it towards my house, thus far saving money on not paying so much interest on my current mortgage? or 3 Take the 10 hit, but instead buy a second house and leasing it out.I too like to occasionally set big piles of cash on fire. If I do it in the winter, I even save money by running the heater less!;-OK, less flippantly, theres almost no way that pulling money out of retirement to help pay down a mortgage is a winning move. Personally, Id guesstimate another 10 in there for an increased tax burden too, though that depends on a lot more moving parts, so well over a 10 hit is likely.Unless you got your mortgage from Bobs Grill and Payday Mortgage Loans and its at a really high rate in which case a refi is more likely to be a good idea, like I said this is not a winning move. 11k in stocks from my old companyIf this is in a normal, taxable investment account, then putting that toward your mortgage may very well make sense. 