I'm currently investing about 15% of my income into a 401K aacount on
a pretax basis. I'm certain I will be needing that money within the
next 15 months to invest elsewhere requiring physical cash.

Is it better to switch my 401k investments to an after-tax basis? How
much approximately will the after tax flexibility cost me in terms of
lost savings?. 

I'm a 40 years old female with a six digit salary.

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Clarification of Question by wasalos-ga on 27 Nov 2005 09:57 PST

My company allows only hardship withdrawals from the 401K account. It
allow allows for loans upto 50% of your vested amount.

However, if you have an after tax account, you are allowed to withdraw
from your contributions anytime for any reason. But you are limited to
two withdrawals a year.

You should check that your company will allow withdrawals.  Not all do.

Wasalos --

Nelson-GA is correct.  And much of the answer depends on your marginal tax bracket.

In any case, an alternate strategy is to borrow against the 401k,
which companies often allow in certain pre-defined circumstances.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Some companys do allow you to withdraw after tax money after a certain
lenght of time with no penalty. There are other options such as a 401k
loan where you are allowed to borrow up to $50,000 or 50% of your
vested balance if less than $100,000. Some companys also have what is
called supplemental plans meaning that they are not rollover eligible
and the rules associated with that type of account arent as strict as
they are with a 401k plan.