The 401(k) retirement plan is real money earmarked for retirement, yet financial and retirement experts are seriously concerned about the money that is being taken out too soon.

Some 25 percent of households with these retirement plans take out money for other purposes—$60 billion in 2010—and 9.3 percent are so young they have to pay a penalty. Retirement experts are trying to show them how much they are losing by using their retirement accounts for short-term consumption needs. When leaving a job, they withdraw the funds without considering the consequences. Better: leaving the money in the 401(k), moving it to the new job’s plan, or rolling over the funds into an IRA.

What does it cost to pull money out prematurely from a 401(k) or other retirement plan? If there was $50,000 in the account, $19,000 would disappear right away in taxes and penalty. Left in, the sum could grow to more than $200,000 in 30 years.

For nearly 30 years, Mike Nickerson has owned and managed a small, full-service accounting practice in the Midcoast. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from University of Southern Main and a master's degree in financial planning from Bentley University.

He is a past board member and president of the Maine Society of Certified Public Accountants and currently serves on the Maine Board of Accountancy.

An aged rock musician, Nickerson now finds musical enjoyment playing upright and electric bass in a variety of bands spanning folk to jazz music genres. He and his wife have three grown children, and they enjoy their free time hiking, kayaking, golfing, bicycling and motorcycling.

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