Today I was talking to a friend who is buying some furniture. They asked if they should take money out of their 401K (old enough to withdrawal without penalty) or pay $81 an month interest free for 5 years.   They said their 401K was down and since they are still working their contributions would bring it back up in the 5 years.   I told him to pay the $81, pulling from his 401K while it is down is not a good idea. If he waits until the market comes back he could withdrawal and pay off the loan, but selling while down is a loss and will hurt his retirement in the long run.   If you can avoid selling when the market is down over time the market will recover. I have been buying as the market drops and selling on the gains. The market has been doing drops and rises within a few days in some cases with the uncertainty in the world. I buy solid dividend based companies so when the price is down the dividends buy me more shares.    Been watching BP bounce since oil is a large issue is this war.   see retirebylearning on FB or web page at www.retirebylearning.com come with me on my learning experience trying to retire with investments, crypto and real estate.