<prompt> Human: Hey rPersonalFinance I am in a bit of a pickle here and am looking for some advice on what to do. My spouse and I have placed an offer on a home after meeting with a mortgage broker and seeing how much home we could afford.I had planned to either use my 401k balance or stock plan balance for the down payment. My mortgage broker made me aware I could withdraw from the 401k using something called a hardship Withdrawl for a home, and the penalty would really only be tax.Im finding out now that I dont work for the employer who had the plan I cant do a Hardship Withdrawl but am allowed to take it out still at a penalty of around 30.I have a stock plan that has around the same amount but wanted to use my 401k instead since the stock is a pretty decent blue chip stock and I believe it will only go up in value. I kind of counted on using the 401k and now I dont know what to do since I will be penalized almost 30. I didnt know if anyone knew of other aspects when buying a home to use either of these two options with minimal penalty.  <response>: Do NOT, under any circumstances, raid your 401k for the downpayment. The penalty and tax rate at this point of your life make this an insane choice.There is no way to avoid the penalty given the parameters of your situation. 