cashing 401k and putting in individual acct?

If your 401k allows, your best move is to change your investment mix to have less weight in stocks, all bank deposit if you have absolutely no confidence in equities. Or bonds of some kind.

If the above is not possible, see if you can do a direct rollover to an IRA of like type. For example, if it's a regular 401k, roll it to a traditional IRA. If it's a Roth 401k, roll it to a Roth IRA. That way, no immediate taxes or penalties. Once it's at Fidelity (or whatever institution), you can control the mix to suit you. If you're still working at the company, you may not be able to do the rollover.

If you're 60 or older, post again with that detail. That's a different situation, but it's still not a good idea to cash the whole thing at once.

That would be a horrible blunder, creating adverse tax consequences for no reason. The money you took out would be fully taxable as income, plus a 10% penalty.

You can move your investments to cash within the 401k. Look at your plan options. There has to be a Money Market or Stable Value option of some kind.

Expecting an immediate crash is also silly, but I'll leave that for other answerers.

Most 401k's have various options for investments, and you could probably move out of stocks with the money still in your 401K.. You generally can't pull your money out of a 401K from a job you're currently working at. And if you could, you'd be taxed heavily, and pay a 10% penalty. .And anything you've heard about a crash on May 28 is pure speculation.

tax implications: You will pay income tax on the full amount, plus a 10% penalty if you are under 60 years old.

getting out of the market: a 401k includes a cash position. You don't have to withdraw your money after you sell all the stocks.

I would contact the holder of the 401k-such as Vanguard, Merrill Lynch. etc. and discuss your options. Depending on the choices offered in the 401k, you can just change how the money is invested. Move some of the money from stocks into Index funds or bonds. As to predicting a specific date for a market crash, forget it-can't be done. If it could, all investors would do the same thing at the same time and bankrupt the world.

if your age is under 59 1/2, automatic 10% penalty to the government, plus taxable income in 2016; otherwise, if you are over 59 1/2, you are 'only' subject to taxes on the withdrawl, because no tax was ever paid on the 401k. you are better off taking pieces of the 401k out if you need it, that will add smaller amounts to your annual income and maybe not raise your tax rate.

Just adjust your portfolio so you have more of your 401k in bonds rather than stocks.

There's no need to withdraw any of it.

You'd actually probably loses more money to taxes if you withdrew it compared to just leaving it where it's at.

You'll loose up to 50% of your 401k if you pull it out. You better check into this a LOT more.

Rolling into a ROTH IRA would be the least painful.

You'll have to quit your job (unless you already have), because you cannot cash out a 401(k) for a company you still work for.....then pay a 10% penalty on the balance....then pay Income taxes at your prevailing rate on the entire amount.....so you will lose at least half the money...

Dumb move

fed penalty 10% plus income tax, plus state penalty

why not just move the investments to cash and avoid the tax liability