Given the inflated cost of living at this time, it comes as no real surprise that Americans are waist-deep in debt. For perspective, the Federal Reserve reports credit card balances alone reached a record-breaking $1.13 trillion in the final quarter of last year.

Some of these borrowers are recklessly splurging, to be fair -- that's nothing new. Many of these people, however, are just trying to pay for necessities like groceries, transportation, and housing. Indeed, it's so tough out there right now that mutual fund and brokerage outfits Fidelity and T. Rowe Price both confirm noteworthy upticks in the number of people borrowing from their own 401(k) retirement accounts.

If you're considering doing the same, do anything else you reasonably can to not do so. Here's why.

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Source Fool.com