So I had written out this really long and detailed explanation of my financial situation over the past year but then realized that none of that really matters. I really just have a simple question.

The short version of the story is that burried under significant financial burden, in an act of desperation I cashed in my 401k. As fate would have it, less than a month later, after nearly nine months of being unemployed, I was offered a job that would let me afford all my bills and send my son to daycare during the day, and end up with about $200 in savings each month.

So on to my question. Since I've already done the deed and cashed in, should I just use what's left of it to pay off my debt? I still have about $9000 in cash left sitting in a savings account. I have one credit card balance left after using the rest of my 401k to pay off the others. This one has a $5000 balance but I didn't pay it off because it still has an introductory rate of 0% for the next three months. With only $200 a month extra, it certainly won't be paid off in that time, so I'm tempted to just pay it off with my 401k money. Not only that, but if I put all my savings towards paying off this credit card, I (obviously) have no savings at all for however many months I end up paying. On the other hand, I read that within 60 days of cashing in I could roll that money into an IRA and get some of the penalty back as a tax refund next year, and I would very much NOT like to deplete five full years of retirement savings, if I can help it. So which should I do? Roll all $9000 into an IRA and slowly pay off my credit card? Or pay off the credit card and roll only $4000 into an IRA?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

tough one, depends on the interest you are paying, I would go the slow road if you have a low interest rate or can roll it into a new card with a low interest rate, if your interest rate is in the 20's than pay it off or make a deal with them; I would suggest making the deal or at least trying before using the money, for more detailed advise we would need to know how old you are and more tax details than is good to share in a forum

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