By rights, you are entitled to your money right now. But the companies that do the managing of the funds for 401k investments want to hold onto you for as long as they can so that they can show that they have so many millions of dollars entrusted to them under their care for their smart investment advice.

This is their interest and the realities of the competition they feel from other investment management companies.

But it has nothing to do with you, if you need the money right now to pay bills and avoid a financial disaster because you lost your job.

You have to keep calling them and get your money as fast as you can.

If it's possible, you might suggest to them that you would leave some of the money in an investment account with them, but that you need a distribution in the amount of a certain number of dollars immediately. This is up to you.

It shouldn't take legal action or anything like that in order to get the money. Just keep calling, politely of course because you'll be talking to people who, themselves, are up against it, in this recession. We're all trying to work the system as best we can and survive until tomorrow.