About a month into the pandemic, Tyler Mathiesen lost his position at a tech company, his first full-time job out of college. For several months, everything was fine: Payments on his $75,000 in student loans were paused, and the extra $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit helped pay the rest. He even managed to save some money.But as the summer ended, the added benefit expired and his regular state unemployment benefits were close to running out. He needed a plan, and fast.His solution: draining all $8,200 he had in his 401(k).“I needed money to pay for rent and food,” said Mr. …
