Keep Doing the Math

[RetiredHappy]

The $400k is not over and above. It is part of the $1.1M total invested. Not a lump sum either. It is money that is accessible from pre-tax retirement savings as I retire from the university or leave the position (457 and 403b accounts). I don't have to wait until age 59.5 to access or have to pay the 10% penalty to access but it will be subject to income tax. The nice thing is, I can control how much I take out each year (control taxes and income level). I can roll it over to ROTH while controlling income too.

Personally I wouldn't consider rolling over to ROTH. Since you are going to withdraw from your tax deferred accounts for living expenses, the IRA money is going to be depleted fast enough that you won't end up with tax benefits for rolling over to ROTH.