There was one guy who shared his experience. He said he has high risk investments and was worried about the market. When things stabilized he put the money back.
Another shared that he used it for home repair. Another bought a car.
The downside seem to be 1) high fees 2) that money isn't making interest 3) you wind up paying tax on it when you pay the loan back with your regular pay.
I don't know. When I had the option of taking a 401k loan, my impression was it was a thing that had no reason to exist, much like an HSA. It's all a net loss to society to set up these games with rules for avoiding taxes that bait people into making decisions that cause problems later on.
I think the only time it truly makes sense is when your credit is so bad you can't take out another line of credit, assuming you can afford to pay it back.
The only pro that I could see to it was that it doesn't require a credit check. You're borrowing your own money.
However, this is far outweighed by the fact that if you leave the company the balance is due immediately. So if you borrow $10k and get fired with a $5k balance you will immediately owe your company $5k.
Another shared that he used it for home repair. Another bought a car.
The downside seem to be 1) high fees 2) that money isn't making interest 3) you wind up paying tax on it when you pay the loan back with your regular pay.