10/30/2012 – The Risks of Tapping Your Retirement Fund for an Alternative Use

Retirement funds are being used increasingly for anything but retirement. Instead, 401(k)’s and individual retirement accounts are becoming money pots used to invest in business start-ups, speculate in gold and buy private equity investments.

Such maneuvers come with big tax advantages. But they may also leave their users penniless in retirement, while their ability to evade taxes can cost the government.

Read the full article at The New York Times.