<prompt> Human: If your emergency fund is getting extremely low should you pull out money from retirement fund or sell off your assets instead? Im 27 and dont know what to do. My old boss at my company got promoted and new management is firing a lot of people and a lot of my coworkers are quitting. I dont feel secure at my job and will probably let go in 2-3 months. I am 5 years with the company fully vested and have about 50k in my retirement fund including profit share. I only have 14k emergency fund 3k in checking account monthly expenses are 3k this means I only have roughly 5 months to find a new job that pays well enough that I am not hopelessly broke. Im not sure if when the time comes if I should sell off my house 25k equity in the house and get an apartment, or pull money out of retirement for mortgage payments?  <response>: Im 27 and dont know what to do. My old boss at my company got promoted and new management is firing a lot of people and a lot of my coworkers are quitting. I dont feel secure at my job and will probably let go in 2-3 months.Then look for another job, and reduce your expenses. should you pull out money from retirement fund or sell off your assets instead?Sell assets instead. The penalties for taking money out of retirement are severe. I only have 14k emergency fund 3k in checking account monthly expenses are 3k this means I only have roughly 5 months to find a new job that pays well enough that I am not hopelessly broke.I have no idea why you are thinking of destroying your retirement plan. Fortunately, your 401k administrator will feel the same way. You have zero grounds for a hardship withdrawal. 