Welcome to the board, Rider.
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Originally Posted by Pale Rider
1) Currently we have about 70% of our savings is in 401k’s, Roth IRA’s, and an annuity. If one plans to retire early, is it best to keep funding these accounts or start funding non-retirement accounts? From what I’ve read, it looks like you can take early withdrawals from these account with no penalty if done right.
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What Steve said. A low-cost tax-deferred investment beats a taxable account every time and there are ways to withdraw some money penalty-free. Your Roth probably costs less than your 401(k) but a 401(k) match is usually a better deal.
So conventional wisdom is to fund the 401(k) to the top of the match and then dump the rest in the Roth. If you're looking for more after the Roth then you could consider after-tax contributions to a really great 401(k), but most of them are higher expenses than a cheap (taxable) index fund.
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Originally Posted by Pale Rider
2) I just finished reading Your Money or Your Life. In this book, that I guess many on this forum have read, the authors recommend putting all of your money into 30yr U.S. treasury bonds for true financial independence. This is very conservative. Are there better “safe” investment choices. I know there are endless choices, but I am curious to hear some opinions.
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Joe's life was steadily eroded by inflation. It didn't end well and one concern was that he didn't take care of his health (checkups, diagnostic exams) due to expense concerns.
Terhorsts retired with an all-CD portfolio in 1985 but quickly shifted to equities.
Kaderlis started with equities, rode the 90s until they dropped, stepped aside for a couple years, and are back in the market again.
Your best investment is educating yourself about asset allocation, and Bernstein's "Four Pillars" book is a very good primer.
As much as annuities are oversold, yours provides a measure of guaranteed monthly cash flow that allows you to invest more of your portfolio in equities. The trick is to beat inflation without having volatility keep you awake at night.