so this calculator i made, helped me estimate my withdrawal model for my different buckets. obviously some fine tuning will continue to happen as my retirement trucks on...but... your girl loves a structure..
so it look like for now..i can spend the first 12 years drawing down from my taxable and roth contributions and cash.
and then around age 54, i will need to figure out how to tap into my 401k. i feel like the FIRE wisdom has always been to do the Roth conversions as a way to access 401k money..
well between the markets and me vacillating between loading up after-tax and brokerage...a) i had enough in taxable for more than 5 years...which was kind of the loose plan...and then i stopped thinking about it
b) i looked into 72t and it seems like a very plausible option for me at age 54 where before it seemed like something to avoid
so yeah, this is one of those things were overloading myself with information but checking and rechecking and being flexible paid off.
it seems pretty straightforward to me but maybe i'm wrong..but for now that's my strategy..
basically the last 5 years before i turn 60...i'm going to attempt 72t if i need to access 401k money.
i like it because there's no pressure to rollover my 401k. i know that is also common wisdom, but i like having the pool of money safe...it's like a paid off mortgage for me.
so i don't feel pressure to rollover or do roth conversions right now
and i think 12 years will be enough data to know how much i might need to withdraw at 55. so that provides some comfort as well
but to the point of all the FIRE wisdom, i think it would be a little scary to be locked into a 72t now at my age and have to stick to that withdrawal rate for the next 20 years...
especially since before even tapping into my investments i already realized i can withdraw more than the 40k/yr and be okay.
so yeah, i think that plan works for me. and luckily i have a few years to know for sure.
i have a regular IRA so i'll likely try to do a roth conversion for the heck of it, but i'm not too jazzed about touching my 401k right now...unless i can do a conversion in plan.
but i'll save that for probably year 3 once i have control of taxes and ACA subsidies..