<prompt> Human: I live in Seattle and I make enough to afford the monthly mortgage payments to pay for a 400-475,000 home. However, I currently only have about 10 of that to use as a down payment. Im considering cashing out a retirement fund to use so I can have closer to a 20 down payment. Im 33 years old so I figured Im still pretty young to rebuild a retirement fund and the equity in any place I buy here would just grow. I also plan on having a roommates to cut down my monthly costs so I could save even more money. I know that Ill take I cut from taxes and an early withdrawal penalty. Ive also looked into withdrawingborrowing money because I qualify for a first time home buyer but I can only take out 10,000 which doesnt get me to a 20 down payment. Is this a horrific idea, or is my thinking not so bad on this?  <response>: The taxes and penalties are certainly not worth it. It may make sense to reduce your retirement contributions temporarily while you save up for a larger down payment. Just make sure you continue to get the full employer match. 