Because of the way our finances are, if I decide to divorce my wife, I will have to CASH my 401 k, so the tax alone on the 401k will be 75,000. Then my children will have to live with less financial resources, will probably have to move into a smaller house, and will have their college fund reduced, since it involved my 401k. Then if you read any experts, including Michelle, there is no one that claims that divorce will not NEGATIVELY impact the children. So I owe it to them to at least turn over every stone in the search for intimacy.