<prompt> Human: I have been saving around 30 of my income into retirement accounts, and have worked out that I should be able to retire some time between ages 45-50 if all goes to plan, except that I did not factor in the penalties to access the money early. How do other people retire early? Do they simply just pay the fees? Am I better off not saving in a retirement account? Is there a loophole or or something?  <response>: A Roth IRA conversion ladder is one feels like a loophole way to avoid penalties. rfinancialindependence could tell you more. They probably have a wiki on it. 