Yet again another front-page article on college debt (“College costs belie conventional wisdom,” March 22). I have a simple idea for some families to pay off their child’s debt, but I need the help of our politicians to make it happen.

The idea is to allow a onetime, penalty-free 401(k) disbursement to pay off the debt. I can take a 401(k) withdrawal for a first-time home purchase, so why shouldn’t it be allowed for education? If a limit were set on a maximum disbursement, that would ensure that the impact on the retirement portion was minimal.

My child will graduate this year with $42,000 in debt. If I were able to pay that off with a portion of my 401(k), here’s what would happen:

My child would be debt-free. He could establish credit and buy a house, car, start a retirement fund, etc.

Free from tuition obligations, I could start accelerating payments to my retirement funds. I’d also be able to pump money into the local economy by having much-needed repairs done on my home (furnace, kitchen, etc.).

If the disbursement were taxed as income, the state would get $1,900 and the Internal Revenue Service would get $5,800 at my current tax rate. This new revenue stream could be earmarked to help fund Maine’s university system and fund President Obama’s free community college initiative.

The 401(k) fund administrator would get a processing fee, and the private loan holders would get unsecured college debt off their books and could loan money for longer-term secured debt, such as my daughter’s new house. Everybody wins.

I’m sure other families are in the same situation, with healthy 401(k)s but no way to use them to repay student loans. If that is your situation and you want to help, please contact your congressional representatives. They’re the ones who can make this idea happen.

Dave Wislowski

Gray