If you try to withdraw early from just about any retirement plan, you'll be slapped with a penalty—an incentive to leave your money alone and let it build toward retirement like you always intended.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Host of the Retire Sooner podcast and CFP™ practitioner. Happiness may be subjective, but with multiple studies suggesting ...

According to data from Empower, the average 401(k) balance for Americans in their 50s now stands at $629,000. A 54-year-old with $4 million saved is far beyond that benchmark, more than six times the ...