<prompt> Human: Im 22, already have 30k invested, 10k in TSP and 5k in the bank. My bf has around a quarter of a million invested not IRA and is only a few years older. Even if we broke up always possible I guess I am investing at least 5k a year while I earn my degree and will have very good earnings after I graduate. If everything goes perfectly, we could retire before Im 30. 40 would probably be worst-case. The way I see it, even with the idea that I could start living off IRA money when Im 65 and just need enough money until then, Id still need enough to live off of for 30 years... which is the entire amount Id need to retire anyway. Every dollar that goes into an age-locked retirement account is another dollar that isnt going into an account that I could actually use in a few years. Is there something about IRAs Im not seeing? Right now tax breaks mean nothing to me as I technically have no taxable income.  <response>: Check out rfinancialindependence. A lot of the focus is on retiring early. 