Harry Gross: Man has mountain of debt

DEAR HARRY: I'm a 44-year-old married father of two. I make $65,000 a year, and my job is secure. My wife is a homemaker as we have a sick child. We are under a huge mountain of debt. Besides our first mortgage, we are maxed out on our home-equity loan at $40,000 and we owe $35,000 on credit cards. Our total monthly minimum payments are $950. There's no available equity in our home to refinance, and the debt load is just too much to carry. Our only available asset is my 401(k) plan that has about $165,000 in it. I see no other option but withdraw enough from this account to put us on a better playing field. I'm aware of the taxes and the 10 percent penalty, but I'm against the wall. My credit is stellar with a score of 775, and I want to keep it that way. I don't believe in walking away from the credit cards or asking the bank to settle for less as this will hurt my credit. I thought of a second job, but the minimum wage won't help much. I must do something before the Fed starts raising interest rates that will hike up my monthly payments. Help!