How we make money

401k.loans is not a lender. We don’t make loans, set rates or decide who’s approved. We aren’t a loan broker, a tax preparer, an investment adviser or a retirement plan administrator, and we’re not affiliated with the IRS, the Department of Labor, the SBA or any employer’s plan.

How the site is paid

Today it isn’t. We don’t take payment from the lenders, marketplaces, ROBS providers or anyone else named on this site, and no link here carries an affiliate or tracking code.

• Personal loan links. The lenders and marketplaces on the rate page are plain links. You apply on their site; we don’t take applications, collect your details or pass anything to them.
• The business question form and the contact form. What you send is stored by us and read by a person on our side, who replies by email. It isn’t sold, shared with or passed to any lender, provider or marketing partner.

If we ever start earning from a link or a referral, we’ll say so next to the link and on this page first, update the privacy policy before anything changes, and ask for your consent on the form itself before sharing anything you send. Using the calculators sends nothing anywhere; they run in your browser.

No lender or provider reviews or approves what we write. The calculators show plainly when a 401(k) loan, a withdrawal or a ROBS comes out cheaper with your numbers.

Rates and examples on this site

Rates prefilled in the calculators are public reference figures, each shown with its source and date: the prime rate from the Federal Reserve’s H.15 release and the average APR banks charged on 24-month personal loans from the Federal Reserve’s G.19 release. They are not offers and may not be what you’d be quoted. Worked examples that show a personal loan payment state the APR and the number of payments they assume. Your actual rate, fees and terms come from the lender or your plan. A 401(k) plan loan made from your vested balance under the tax rules generally isn’t covered by the Truth in Lending rules (12 CFR 1026.3(g)); its rate and terms come from your plan document.

Not tax, legal or investment advice

The pages explain federal rules as published by the IRS, the Department of Labor and the SBA, with the sources listed on the sources page. The calculators use your marginal tax rate as an estimate; your real tax depends on your whole return. Assumed investment returns are your own inputs, not forecasts. For a decision about your situation, talk to a tax professional, your plan administrator or a fiduciary financial planner.