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We had a terrible recession in the early 1980s. It came afteryears of stagflation. It came in the midst of some of the highestinterest rates ever recorded. Worse, it came as our nation stoodon the cusp of transitioning from a manufacturing economyto an information-based economy.

That transition, unfortunately, left hardened laborers on thatcusp for too long. For example, steelworkers gave their all for adying industry only to be left empty-handed. However, they weren'treally poor.

In fact, many were asset rich, just cash poor. That meant theirhouse was worth too much for them to qualify for aid. In order tosurvive, then, they had to sell the very homes they worked so hardto earn.

Sounds screwy, right?

Believe it or not, we may be about to experience that incrediblefeeling of déjà vu, (see "Retirement Plan Pros Speak Out on CARES Act From aFiduciary Perspective," FiduciaryNews.com, April 7, 2020).Here's why.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to predict we're heading fora recession as long as people can't work. And that's going to leadto hard times for many. For some, they'll have no choice but totake money out of their retirement plans prematurely. They're notpoor. They're just cash poor. Most of their liquid assets are intheir retirement plans.

For others, they'll only think they have no choice but to takemoney out of their retirement plans prematurely. These people willsuffer the most. Here's why.

Think about what it means to prematurely withdraw money fromyour retirement plan. It means one of two things.

First, you're going to pay it back within the three yearsallotted by the CARES Act. Still, you may not recover the lostgains you're giving up by taking the money out at what many believeto be a severe market bottom. This leaves you with a smaller nestegg than if you hadn't touched your retirement account in the firstplace.

The second option is much worse. You don't pay it back. This isa double hit. First, the money you take out is taxable if you don'tpay it back into your retirement plan. In other words, it will costyou money to get access to your money.

In truth, that's the general rule with tax-deferred savinganyway, so you might not consider that a big deal.

But this next part is a big deal.

By taking out your retirement funds well in advance ofretirement, you stand the risk of forfeiting a comfortableretirement. Take enough money out and you'll be removing the chanceyou can retire in any sense of the word.

And that just may be a form of elder self-abuse.