Hi @Alpha26 and thanks for your question today.
Your retirement plan may require you to demonstrate a hardship in order to be allowed to withdraw from the account before retirement age. But, being allowed to withdraw is a separate issue from the tax and penalties.
To avoid the 10% additional tax on an early retirement withdrawal, the funds have to be used in specific circumstances or for specific purposes. This IRS chart sets out what all of those situations are. Unfortunately, having a general financial hardship, such as being behind on your rent or mortgage, is not a situation that by itself qualifies for exemption from the 10% penalty. Only specific items such as total and permanent disability, qualified higher education expenses, medical expenses, etc. are exempt. You can review the chart to see if any of the situations there might apply to you this year.
I know this probably wasn't the answer you're hoping for, but I wanted to be sure to give you accurate information so you don't have any surprises at tax time. I hope my post has been helpful.
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