I am leaving a government job where we had no 401(K) one year before I vest in my retirement plan. My new job will pay $20,000+ yearly. I have a shameful $9,000 in debt excluding my student loans. I should have $25,000 in my retirement plan. I estimate that I will receive some $3,400 from my deferred comp & reimbursement from paid vacation and sick leave time. I was planning to rollover my retirement into an IRA. My plan is to take the $3,400 and pay down my $9,000 because I want to keep my retirement money. Is this the smartest option? Despite the tax penalties should I pay off the whole amount with my retirement? My new job has no retirement plan....I've already been looking into a new retirement plan with a brokerage. What do you think?