: What is the difference between "withdrawal" and "distribution" from a 401(k)? My 401(k) plan lists several fees associated with my account. One of the fees is "Final Distribution", which is ".00 per distribution". Another

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The two terms seem to be used interchangeably. Even the IRS' website uses them interchangeably from one sentence to the next (emphasis mine):

Many 401(k) plans allow employees to make a hardship withdrawal
because of immediate and heavy financial needs. Generally, hardship
distributions from a 401(k) plan are limited to the amount of the
employees' elective contributions only ...

It might a difference in perspective: The account holder withdraws the money, but the fund manager distributes it.

Another way to look at it would be for cases that are only in transition to another tax-advantaged account. You can withdraw the money without it becoming a taxable distribution if you get it into another tax-advantaged account within a certain time limit.

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This question had better be asked of the 401k plan administrator rather than here. The plan document that you received when you began participating undoubtedly has a page or more of definitions of the terms used in the contract, and especially so if the meanings are nonstandard. For example, one would expect that a Final Distribution leaves a balance of [CO] in the 401k account and so a "per distribution" fee is meaningless in the context of Final Distribution.

As the post by mbhunter indicates, withdrawal and distribution seem to be used interchangeably in
IRS documents, and so there probably is a nonstandard meaning assigned to these
terms in the 401k document.

Three possible nonstandard meanings of these two words come to mind.

Withdrawal = at the request of the participant,
and
Distribution = as required by law, e.g. required minimum distribution
Withdrawal = anything before age 59.5 or before termination of employment
and
Distribution = anything after age 59.5 or after termination of employment
Withdrawal = anything on which the 10% excise tax for premature distributions
must be paid, or anything that is not eligible for rollover into another tax-deferred account
and
Distribution = anything on which the 10% excise tax does not need to be paid.

But all the above is just idle speculation, and what matters is the plan
document's definitions of these terms, and that can be determined only
if you read your 401k plan document yourself. Reliance on the answers given
by the employer's HR department, or the plan administrator, as to what
the plan document says might or might not be advisable: even the IRS
has been known to give out incorrect information.

In general, money cannot be withdrawn from a 401k plan and
rolled over (or transferred via a trustee-to-trustee transfer) into
another tax-deferred plan while the participant
is still employed by the sponsor of the 401k plan. Since most
401k plans have poor investment choices and excessive administrator
fees, reflect that absent this prohibition, most people would with
roll over money from their 401ks into their IRAs as often as feasible.

You can withdraw money from a 401k account without paying
the 10% excise tax for several reasons (including financial
needs of various specified kinds), but you cannot then change
your mind and put that money into your IRA, telling the IRA
custodian that it is a rollover from the 401k. To do so
will not just trigger the 10% excise tax on premature
distributions from a 401k account, but you will also need
to pay penalties for excess contributions to your IRA.