Seeking 401k advice for after quitting
Need help knowing if this is a valid/legal/not stupid plan.
Im 37, planning to retire at 45. All my money is in retirement instead of brokerage, and 7-8 years isnt enough time to sack away enough in a brokerage to last me 15 years. I will save what I can, but will need to dip into retirement funds. So I have to get creative with my withdrawal plan. Im not willing to work an extra 15 years just to reach penalty-free withdrawal age. But of course i want to minimize penalties where I can. Here’s my plan:
My 401k is part traditional and part Roth.
So when I retire, I’ll roll that over, splitting into two separate traditional IRAs and one Roth IRA.
I already have a separate Roth IRA so then I would have two Roth IRA’s just sitting there with no new contributions. I assume that’s ok.
With the two traditional IRAs, I will set up an SEPP in one of them for the maximum I can set it up for. Even if it’s more than I need. I will bank the rest. Because over those 15 years before 59.5, inflation will hit and I won’t be able to raise the withdrawal. I’ll make up the rest with whatever brokerage I can save before retirement, with Roth contributions withdrawals as the emergency lever.
The other traditional IRA I will use to pay my health insurance premiums while unemployed (withOUT the 10% penalty, because that’s allowed now, right?) and it will be sized only for that during the split.
Is all of this allowed? Not sure Im understanding all the rules.
Posted Jul 30, 2026, 2:16 PM UTC