I assume that&#x27;s short-hand for taking a loan against your 401K (penalties mentioned as a worst-case-scenario?). Which you pay back &quot;to yourself&quot;, with interest.<p>I have an emergency fund because &quot;I&#x27;m supposed to&quot;, but in hindsight, paying myself 4% would&#x27;ve been a higher rate of return than my 401K has seen this year.<p>In light of that, is the advice really that bad? Even if it was a good year and it turned out wrong, you&#x27;ve probably only lost a few points on that money over the term of your loan. If the alternative is putting money into a Savings Account returning a fraction of a percent, and actually becoming worth less over time?<p>Just thinking out loud. I don&#x27;t consider myself all that financially savvy.