<prompt> Human: My employer matches up to 5 of my paycheck. So I give them my 5 and they double it immediately. I know that there is 10 early withdrawal fee for removing early, but once I put it into stocks I am confident I could easily make that money back over time and end up with more than siding with my retirement plans options. It all sounds good in my head, but want others opinions before I do it. EDIT: Im 21 years old if that helps EDIT: Here are my current investment options with retirement account: Great-West SecureFoundation Balanced Svc Great-West SecureFoundation LT 2015 Svc Great-West SecureFoundation LT 2020 Svc Great-West SecureFoundation LT 2025 Svc Great-West SecureFoundation LT 2030 Svc Great-West SecureFoundation LT 2035 Svc Great-West SecureFoundation LT 2040 Svc Great-West SecureFoundation LT 2045 Svc Great-West SecureFoundation LT 2050 Svc Great-West SecureFoundation LT 2055 Svc Great-West Lifetime 2015 Fund Svc Great-West Lifetime 2025 Fund Svc Great-West Lifetime 2035 Fund Svc Great-West Lifetime 2045 Fund Svc Great-West Lifetime 2055 Fund Svc American Funds EuroPacific Growth R3 American Funds New Perspective - R3 Janus Henderson Overseas S MFS Emerging Markets Equity A Oakmark International Service Oppenheimer Developing Markets A Baron Small Cap Fund Fidelity Advisor Small Cap M Great-West T Rowe Price MdCp Gr Fund Inv Lord Abbett Value Opportunities A Alger Capital Appreciation Instl I American Funds Fundamental Inv R3 American Funds Growth Fund of Amer R3 Great-West Multi-Manager LgCpGr Fund Inv Great-West SP 500 Index Fund Inv Janus Forty Class S MFS Value Fund A American Funds American Balanced - R3 BlackRock US Government Bond Portfolio A Great-West Templeton Global Bnd Fund Inv PIMCO Total Return Admin Wells Fargo International Bond A Key Guaranteed Portfolio Fund  <response>: 401k is tax advantaged. Youll be paying 10 penalty and your full marginal income taxes on what you withdraw. If you think you can do that much better than the funds in the 401k, then by all means withdraw, but Id also like to point out that mutual funds that track an index beat any type of managed investing over the long run. Somehow, I doubt you could make that back over time by investing yourself in stocks you pick. 