Readers have asked us regularly over the last few weeks about penalty-free 401(k) hardship withdrawals. Taking a chunk from their retirement savings would tide them over through the recession, they say.

The rules for hardship withdrawals are complicated and can vary depending on your employer's policies and how close you are to retirement. But in general, you can withdraw money early if you have no other source of money and can document a specific hardship — medical bills, impending foreclosure, college expenses and other things. (See detailed guidelines from the IRS on hardship withdrawals .) The penalties are steep: The government taxes the money as regular income, and there's an additional 10 percent penalty.

Obama proposed penalty-free withdrawals as part of an overall plan to address the economy. We noted a few weeks ago (see our previous update below) that penalty-free 401(k) withdrawals were not in the proposed economic stimulus bill, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The measure didn't make it into the final version, either, which the president signed on Feb. 17, 2009.

We've searched congressional databases and still can't find any legislation that's been introduced to make 401(k) withdrawals penalty-free. Congressional staffers have indicated there are no plans for it to get serious consideration any time soon.

If the legislation is introduced soon and gains momentum, we'll move the meter to In the Works. But for now, because it didn't make it into the economic package and there aren't any signs that it will re-emerge soon, we are rating this promise Stalled.