Sponsors take closer look at emergency savings options Legislation would allow participants to withdraw from retirement accounts Kent Mason said any previous withdrawal would have to be paid back before taking another. For plan sponsors, nothing is off the table when it comes to solving a problem that the pandemic pushed to the fore: the lack of emergency savings among low- and middle-income Americans. Plan sponsors are not only backing proposed legislation that would allow participants to withdraw up to $1,000 in emergency funds from their retirement accounts. They're also evaluating what types of emergency savings vehicles to offer their employees, considering both "in-plan" and "out-of-plan" savings options. Many are even considering reinstating long-discarded plan provisions that would make in-plan savings possible.