457 Plan

What are some exceptions that allow you to remove funds from your 457 Plan and can you remove your entire balance? I'm with Lincoln btw.

What do you mean by exceptions?  While still employed?

Yes

The document will state when pre-retirement distributions are permitted.  This may include RMD and Unforeseeable emergencies, but not much more.  There is no pre-retirement withdrawal allowance such as that permitted in a 401(a) plan.  This answer applies strictly to governmental 457 plans.

For a governmental plan designed to be an eligible deferred compensation plan within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code of 1986 § 457(b), Federal tax law allows (with 2024) a plan to provide these kinds of distributions:

§ 457(d)(1)(A)(i)        age 59½

§ 457(d)(1)(A)(ii)        severance from employment

§ 457(d)(1)(A)(iii)       unforeseeable emergency

§ 72(t)(2)(H)               qualified birth or adoption distribution

§ 72(t)(2)(I)                emergency personal expense distribution

§ 72(t)(2)(K)               eligible distribution to a domestic abuse victim

§ 72(t)(2)(M)              qualified disaster recovery distribution

This is a deliberately incomplete list.

For any of these, a plan might limit the amount of a distribution, and for some of these a plan must limit the amount of that kind of distribution.

That Federal tax law allows a plan to provide something does not mean a particular State or local government employer’s plan provides that thing.

Consider asking your plan’s service provider which provisions your employer’s plan includes or omits.