<prompt> Human: I am a 25 year old with a 30k salary and I have saved around 10k for the first year.So I know the motto for this sub is to:1. Emergency Savings2. Get 401k Matched3. Max out Roth IRA.I got my emergency savings in Ally Bank and I put in max amount my job will match into 401k. So my next step for my money would be going to Roth IRA, but I feel like only being able to access the gains at age 59 is kinda point less. Who knows what kind of health I will be at 59, could I even enjoy having that much money at 59? I feel I would be much happier if I have money towards the age 30-40 than at 59. I mean I will be putting in couple of hundred into Roth IRA just in case but I dont feel like putting the max amount every year will be worth it. So I guess my question is, I am just another young person who cant seem to plan too far into the future? Does anyone else have same feeling about this? Also if I dont put my money into Roth IRA, what should I be dumping my money into that I can take advantage of the gains in 10-15 years? Index Funds?Assistant: Since you can remove your contributions just not the earnings at any time without tax or penalty it would seem to me that a Roth IRA would be very desirable location for someone like you who thinks you might need to tap it early. Doing so is much easier than using methods that are available for accessing traditional IRA or 401k funds early -- SEPP distribution and Roth conversion pipeline.If you are thinking of skipping IRAs entirely, you could invest in a taxable account. One drawback is that dividends and capital gains distributions are taxable, which is a cost that erodes your wealth a little bit.No one is forcing you to use tax-advantaged accounts.Human: I know I can take my contributions out at any time with Roth IRA but if I wanted to take my gains out at an earlier age, it would make more sense to invest in something where I can take my gains at any time without any penalty right?I guess im just trying to make sure there isnt some point I am missing about saving money for retirement.  <response>: I dont know what to say. Not only do you pay tax on dividends and cap gains distributions, but also in a taxable account, when you sell your shares, the growth you are talking about cashing in on gets taxed at capital gains tax rates. Unless you are in the 15 tax bracket or lower when you do this in your hypothetical future, thats an expense 15 or 20. Maybe not as great as the cost of pulling earnings out of a Roth, though. The point of the restrictions about age was to discourage people from raiding IRAs early, and nontaxability of all growth in a Roth IRA is a carrot. It sounds like you arent so interested in that. So put your money in a taxable account. Many years from now, youll be able to see if you used the money or not, and know whether you did the right thing or made a sub-optimal choice that gave you flexibility at some cost.Frankly I think it is a little paranoid unfounded to think you will not only need to drain your Roth IRA of all the contributions you made but you will also need to start taking out earnings as well prematurely. 