Personal Finance

I want to retire at 55 but does that mean I have to leave a balance in my 401(k) until I'm 59.5?

Maurie Backman

Published: February 6, 2025 9:44 am

There are a number of benefits to saving for retirement in a 401(k) plan. First, your contributions go in tax-free, thereby exempting a portion of your income from taxes. Also, investment gains in your 401(k) get to grow on a tax-deferred basis. This means that rather than pay taxes on gains year after year, you’re only paying taxes on them when you take money out of your account.

But there’s a downside to using a 401(k) to build a retirement nest egg. Typically, if you withdraw funds from a 401(k) before turning 59 and 1/2, you’ll face an early withdrawal penalty. And that penalty amounts to 10% of the sum you remove.

However, there can be exceptions for people who tap a 401(k) plan at age 55. And this Reddit poster wants to know how the rules work.

It’s a good question to ask, because while there can be flexibility to take a 401(k) withdrawal at 55 without getting penalized, it’s important to understand how that provision works.

Are you familiar with the rule of 55?

In the context of 401(k)s, the rule of 55 says that if you leave your job during the calendar year in which you turn 55, you can take a penalty-free withdrawal from the 401(k) plan that same employer was sponsoring. But to be clear, this allowance only applies to a 401(k) being sponsored by the company you’re separating from.

Let’s say you have a $1 million 401(k) at your current job plus a $200,000 balance in a former company’s 401(k) that you never rolled over. If you leave your job the year you’re 55 or older, you can tap the $1 million 401(k) without a penalty, but you can’t touch the 401(k) with the $200,000 in it without losing 10%.

Similarly, the rule of 55 does not apply to any funds you have in an IRA. It only applies to the 401(k) being sponsored by the company you’re separating from.

It’s important to plan for an early retirement

If you’ve saved a lot of money, retiring at age 55 isn’t an unreasonable thing. It’s true that you’ll probably need to stretch your nest egg longer than you would if you were retiring at 65. And you’ll also have to figure out what to do for health coverage, since Medicare typically doesn’t begin until age 65.

But if you have a nice amount of money socked away and you plan carefully, you can make a retirement at age 55 work.

That said, if you know that early retirement is on your radar, then it’s a good idea to house some of your long-term savings outside of a tax-advantaged account. That way, you won’t have to worry about being penalized on that portion of your money.

As far as how much to save outside of an IRA or 401(k), that’s up to you. It depends on your retirement plans, financial goals, and tax situation.

A good idea is to talk to a financial advisor and have them help you split your long-term assets between a few different accounts. They can help you maximize your tax breaks while setting you up with income so that if you want to retire at age 55 and can’t take advantage of the option above, you’ll still have the ability to access some of your money.