Look, but don't borrow on 401(k) plan assets

Much has been said and written about all the personal debt amassedby Americans, but participants in 401(k) retirement plans havelargely resisted the urge to tap into their accounts prematurely.

Although the percentage of 401(k) plans that allow loans rosesubstantially during the 1990s, the proportion of borrowers did not.Some 22 percent of 401(k) participants had a loan outstanding in1999, the most recent in a series of surveys conducted by HewittAssociates of Lincolnshire. That was just 1 percentage point higherthan a similar study conducted in 1991.

The most recent research covered 3.3 million workers at nearly 500large employers. Such discipline on the part of …