After trying to retrieve part of my 401 k 3 months ago it took Fidelity 2 months before they actually gave me the cash.

What if there is a run on the 401k's-these companies only carry so much reserve,much like banks.Will you be able to recover any or all of it? And by the time you get it will the dollar be worth anything? If you allow it to stay will it just disappear into a black hole?

Anybody else having trouble getting access to their funds?

In short, no.

401K's are group investment in the stock market, securities, etc.

My wife's financial adviser for her 401K convinced her to place the bulk of her portfolio in the NASDAQ back in the late 90's. Before it tanked and just about wiped her out.

I tried to talk her out of it as I had my distributions pretty much scattered around, with about a quarter of my money in foreign markets, so I hardly felt a whiff when the high tech stocks hit the skids.

The idea of the foreign market approach was that it added a little buffer when the US market had the hiccups.

Today, we're seeing ALL the markets freaking out so that buffer is worthless.

I would say no, they arent very safe. You will lose money in them. My mother just lost $9000 today on her 401k, and she's been putting into it since i'd say the late 80's....Shes an RN that makes roughly $35 an hour, working 60 hrs a week, so every year she puts a thousand or so into it. And to have $9000 of her hard earned money taken away from her b/c of this recession is ridiculous! Its robbery to the core!

So hell no, 401k's are not safe.

It's only as safe as the stocks you are picking. Ask the Enron folks about that.

Seriously, if you have diversified your assets, your taking a much lesser hit than someone focused on one stock. If you are using a bond fund, chances are, you are at least still breaking even.

Up to a couple of weeks ago, my losses were very manageable. I have money overseas in Europe and Chinese markets. Everything is melting now and I have lost about 22%. I will kick money back into the American market when things improve to where I feel comfortable as America will recover before the others.

Read about every option you are offered and make a plan. You are responsible for your own money. Good luck...