Re: Retirement account and buying car
Peace StirCrasy
Does the 401K account allow money to be taken out before retirement?
For certain qualified expenses (hardships are part of that) Yes. You can withdraw for anything else by paying a 10% penalty, but people generally don't do that.
You can stop contributing to 401(K) at anytime. So if you at some point reach a conclusion that you've socked away enough, or that your current demand is more than future demand for money, just stop additional contributions.
BTW from the sound of it zakat will likely be tax deductible as long as it is donated to qualified charities. That should put more money in the tax payer's pockets