Investing 102

[SSLance]

Originally Posted by AU Doc

Here's a question I've been chewing on for a while, if I put all of my retirement savings in an IRA, if I decide I can retire before 59-1/2 am I going to have to pay an additional 10% penalty every year until that 59-1/2 mark? If so, that's going to HURT!

EDIT: It looks like there is a way to make early withdrawals, but it carries some risk. There is the 72(t) Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (SEPP) option. It would require some planning to get it right, though.

I'm living this quandary for real...we have always been very aggressive with our IRA and 401k contributions (to take tax and matching advantages) and currently sit with about half of our Net Worth in Pre-tax accounts. I'm 50 and the wife is 55 years old.

We are rearranging the post tax assets to try to make them cover living expenses until we can access the pre-tax money without penalty.

But hey, at least we have the pre-tax money there...just in case we do need it.