I am not surprised that Dave Ramsey says this. I do like his advice on sensible living, and not overspending, but he is way over his skis on this one. Any money borrowed from anywhere to buy a consumer good is paid back with after tax dollars. There is no way around that. The money that goes into your 401K is placed there with the knowledge that it will be taxed eventually. But an amount goes away and hopefully increases with its investments. Many plans allow you to borrow from the plan, and as you do so, pay back what you have borrowed, plus interest. Ramsey's idea that you are paying taxes twice is just nuts, and wrong, showing confused thinking.