<prompt> Human: There is a good chance I will die of a , heredity disease, and I am trying to figure out how this impacts my retirement planning. This also means there is a good chance I will not live to see 60, and will be diagnosed with this disease prior to turning 60. If that happens, I would like to retire immediately and do the things I wouldnt have the chance to do in retirement while my health is still passable. I should be in a good financial position to do this. The problem is that, despite being diagnosed with a terminal illness, based on my research I would not be considered disabled as I would still be able to physically work for some period of time, and would have to pay the penalty to withdraw from retirement accounts. I am trying to figure out if it makes sense for me to max out retirement accounts, or if it would make sense to keep money in non-tax-advantaged accounts.  <response>: There are plenty of ways to access retirement accounts penalty free before the retirement age. This is the foundation of early retirement rfinancialindependence. For example, you can roll a 401k into a Traditional IRA when you leaveretire a job, then you can use a conversion ladder to convert this into a Roth IRA for penalty free withdrawal. The only thing is its on a five year delay - you convert sum A into Roth, let sum A sit for five years, then withdrawal penalty free. You pay tax in the year its converted, not distributed. You can also access penalty free at any time Roth contributions not gains. Some situations warrant ultimate penalty free withdrawals like being disabled, high medical bills, education expenses, etc. 