Investing with your 401k

[Natalie Wells]

We have a decent amount of money in my husband's 401k (around 100k, maybe a little more). My question is, have any of you taken money out of your 401k and taken the tax hit (which I believe is around 25-30%, possibly more) to invest in real estate? We feel that we could get that money working better for us, investing it in some multi-family, say taking out $50k maybe, but that taxed amount is not fun and that is taking a chunk of retirement away. But on the flip side, if you look at the opportunity real investing offers with cash flow, appreciating, tax benefits, etc, we feel there are a lot more positives to it than negatives. Would love any thoughts on those who have done this or something similar and/ or opinions on whether it's a good idea.