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Will my 401K withdrawal affect my TWC unemployment benefits after overpayment deduction?

I'm in a major financial bind right now. My unemployment benefits are being reduced because TWC is taking money out each week to cover an overpayment from 2020 (looks like I reported something wrong back then). Since I'm only getting partial payments and struggling to cover bills, I just withdrew money from my 401K as a one-time thing to stay afloat. Now I'm worried - will this 401K withdrawal count as income and mess up my remaining unemployment benefits? I really can't afford to lose what little I'm getting from TWC right now. Has anyone dealt with this situation before?

Good news for your situation! According to the Texas Workforce Commission, will withdrawing my 401k affect my unemployment benefits in Texas? Generally no - if you took the money as a lump sum withdrawal, your unemployment benefits should not be impacted. TWC has specifically addressed this question, confirming that one-time 401k withdrawals don't affect benefits (https://x.com/TXWorkforce/status/1262428318504288264). Just be careful about how you withdraw the funds. While a one-time withdrawal is fine, setting up monthly withdrawals from your 401k could potentially impact your benefits. The difference matters in how TWC categorizes the income. You should still report the withdrawal when you request your payment, though. What happens if I don't report 401k withdrawal to unemployment? You could potentially end up with another overpayment situation, which you're already dealing with. Since you're specifically concerned about does 401k withdrawal affect unemployment benefits in Texas, the key thing to remember is that as long as it's not regular periodic payments, you should be okay. Keep in mind that while your unemployment isn't affected, you'll still have tax implications from the withdrawal itself, and possibly early withdrawal penalties depending on your age. But at least your weekly benefits should remain stable during this tough financial time.

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Oh and just to clarify something important - the reason one-time 401k withdrawals don't count against your unemployment is that TWC distinguishes between lump-sum distributions versus regular pension/retirement income. If your withdrawal was from a plan you contributed to (not 100% employer-funded), that further helps your case. Also wanted to mention that if you're currently unemployed, you might qualify for penalty-free early withdrawals in some situations: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/insights/073116/how-401k-withdrawals-work-when-youre-unemployed.asp While you still need to report the withdrawal when filing your weekly claim, just make sure to categorize it properly as a one-time distribution rather than regular retirement income. Hang in there - this is exactly what emergency funds like 401k hardship withdrawals are designed for!

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same thing happened 2 me last month. i took out 5k from retirement and TWC never knew about it. still getting my payments no problem

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Really? Did you have to report it anywhere on the payment request? I'm so stressed about this.

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I DID THIS LAST YEAR and it COMPLETELY messed up my benefits!!! TWC counted it as income for the weeks I received it and reduced my payment to ZERO for two payment periods. The system is RIGGED against us!!!! They take forever to pay us then punish us when we try to survive!

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Val Rossi

This isn't accurate. TWC only counts income earned from actual work during your claim weeks, not retirement distributions. A 401k withdrawal is not considered earned income for unemployment purposes. You probably had some other earnings during those weeks that caused the reduction.

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Your 401K withdrawal shouldn't affect your unemployment benefits. According to TWC rules, only earned income (like wages from working) needs to be reported during your biweekly payment requests. Retirement distributions aren't considered earned income for unemployment purposes. However, you WILL need to report this withdrawal on your taxes next year since it will be considered taxable income by the IRS, and there might be early withdrawal penalties depending on your age and situation.

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Thank you so much for explaining this clearly! I was getting really confused with all the different information. So I don't need to report it on my payment request form when I certify next week?

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Correct - you don't need to report your 401K withdrawal on your TWC payment request. The payment request form specifically asks about work and earnings from work during each claim week. A 401K distribution isn't earnings from work, so it doesn't affect your unemployment benefits. Just be prepared for the tax implications next year.

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Has anyone else tried this Claimyr thing? I've been calling TWC for 2 weeks about my identity verification issue and can't get through. Getting desperate at this point.

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Val Rossi

I used it about a month ago when my account was locked after an ID.me issue. It did work - got through to a rep in about 15 minutes instead of the endless busy signals I was getting before. They connect you with an actual TWC representative, so you're talking to the same people you would normally, just without the hours of redial frustration.

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I work in financial services (not with TWC) and wanted to clarify something important: your 401K withdrawal has tax implications but doesn't impact unemployment eligibility. However, if you withdrew from a 401K due to COVID hardship between 2020-2022, different rules applied during that period which might be causing some confusion in the responses you're seeing. For current 2025 withdrawals: 1. TWC doesn't count 401K distributions as earned income for benefit calculations 2. You'll owe income tax on the withdrawal amount 3. If you're under 59½, you'll likely face a 10% early withdrawal penalty 4. This withdrawal has no effect on your overpayment recoupment situation Your overpayment situation is completely separate - TWC will continue to recover that debt by reducing your current benefits until the overpayment is satisfied.

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This is SO helpful, thank you! I'm 42 so I guess I'll get hit with that 10% penalty, but at least I know it won't mess up my unemployment. The overpayment deduction is already rough enough to deal with.

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wait so they take money out of ur current benefits to pay for a mistake from 2020?? thats crazy how much are they taking?

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They're taking about 25% from each payment. So instead of getting $465 weekly I'm only getting around $349. It's really putting me in a tight spot, especially with rent going up this month.

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Val Rossi

Just to add to the good advice already shared - I called TWC about a similar situation last year. The representative confirmed that 401K withdrawals don't count as earned income for unemployment purposes. However, make sure you're prepared for tax season next year - depending on how much you withdrew, it could bump you into a higher tax bracket. Also, if the 401K withdrawal was substantial, it might affect other income-based benefits you receive (like SNAP or healthcare subsidies), even though it doesn't affect your unemployment benefits.

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I hadn't even thought about other benefits being affected! Thankfully I'm not on any other assistance programs right now. The withdrawal was about $8,000 - not huge but enough to help me get through until the overpayment is cleared.

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I'm confused...so we don't report 401k withdrawals on payment requests? What about severance pay? My company gave me severance when they laid me off last month but I haven't received the check yet. Do I report that?

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Great question! Severance pay IS different from 401K withdrawals. You DO need to report severance pay to TWC as it's considered earnings allocated to specific weeks after your separation from employment. When you receive your severance check, report it during your payment request for the period it covers. 401K withdrawals are considered retirement distributions, not earnings from work, which is why they're treated differently.

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