[fintstone]

Yes. There is no penalty to withdraw at that age, but one must pay income taxes as if it is regular income (state/local taxes may be exempt for certain retirement funds in some states). If you don't have much, it is not a big decision, but if you have a very large amount, it is critical. If it were me (at that age) and I had a lot in a 401K, I would consider taking out the difference between our income and the top of the tax bracket we are in (as I believe taxes are going up soon) ...and mandatory withdrawal is around the corner at that age leaving you with less control (amount might push you up a couple brackets).

For example, in 2022, for married, filing jointly...the 24% bracket is $178,151 to $340,100. So, if you made $200K, you could pull out up to $140K more without paying at the next bracket which is 32%. If you have done so well that mandatory withdrawals will push you into the 32% or 35% brackets, that is brutal...plus it makes Medicare payments for both to spike

Taxes are inevitable, and while paying 24% of the $140K noted above seems incredible ($33,600) at the top bracket of 37%, it is $51,800...so planning to divide it into smaller chunks can be pretty important/helpful.

Of course, you said, "Was a 401K, then changed to mutual funds"...so she might already be in a situation where there is no tax advantage...and none of this applies.