My friend Bob (not his real name, sorry) tapped his IRA earlier this year to make some repairs around the house he'd been putting off for a while. And the reason he kept delaying those repairs until he no longer could was that he didn't have the money -- at least not in the bank.

Bob's been contributing to an IRA for about a decade. But while he's been pretty diligent in contributing to his retirement plan, he's been neglecting his near-term savings. And recently, it cost him.

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Source Fool.com