<prompt> Human: Hey PF. This is kind of a morbid question, but I am curious about what I should do. Ill start by laying out my current situation.I am 23 years old. I make roughly 48k per year will probably go up by next year. I have 10k in my checking account and 15k in a savings account. I have close to 12k in student loans, with varying percentages from 4.35 to 5.35. I have roughly 1000 left over every month after bills, food, entertainment, etc. Sometimes its less, sometimes its more. I watch my money closely and keep a budget.For the last couple of years, I have been focused on paying off my higher interest student loans. So I have no retirement savings plans or investments. Now that I have a large savings, I am planning on dumping my extra income into the loans. If I do this, I can probably have them paid off within the next year.I am starting to wonder what I should do about long term savings. I read this board often, and most people say that a 401k is the way to go if your company matches. Its free money, right? Well, my company matches .25 for every dollar up to 8 of my pay. This sounds like a good deal, but here comes the morbid part...I am not entirely sure that I want to live very long after age 60. Ive seen my relatives in their old age, and its not pretty. Their spouses and friends are dead. They are sickly. They can barely remember anything. One lives in a retirement home, and pretty much just lays in bed all day watching T.V. because she cant walk. It just seems like a horrible way to live, and I think I would rather blow my brains out or jump off a cliff before getting to that stage.A 401k doesnt sound so great when I realize that if I dont live past age 60, the only way I can use any of the money is by taking a 10 early withdrawal hit plus the taxes... And from looking at the other savings options, they all have this same penalty.On the other hand, I know that I am young and that my views might change once I get older. So I still want some kind of retirement savings, I am just not sure which one is the best to choose given my views on old age.So PF, if you were reasonably certain that you werent going to live past 65, how would you save and investment your money? Is the 401k still the best route?Thanks.  <response>: I am not entirely sure that I want to live very long after age 60.All the more reason to retire as early as possible. If you are 23 you can still retire by 40 which leaves you 20 years of freedom before you decide how to spend your senior years. A 401k doesnt sound so great when ... the only way I can use any of the money is by taking a 10 early withdrawal hit plus the taxes... From what I understand, this is not actually true. If you retire early you can start taking money out early. 