I haven't been actively working toward this goal my entire life. Every time I started a new job, I computed a slightly uncomfortable amount to put in 401k and invested it in growth oriented funds. I have a very small Roth IRA (\~$20K) that I contributed to sporadically when I was freelancing, a Traditional IRA will all of my previous job rollovers (\~$780K) and my current employer 401K is lean at \~$155K, since I have only been working there for a few years. My spouse, 2 years older, has virtually nothing in his retirement accounts. The total amount of all accounts is around $1M and we have almost nothing in liquid savings because of a land purchase we made two years ago. The goal was to build our tiny retirement home there. I started thinking about early retirement a few years ago, but figured I'd work another 1-2 years while I shifted my money around to make it more accessible for the few years before I turn 60. Then I got my layoff notice. Luckily, my end date is in the year that I turn 55 (2026), so I will have access to that 401K, but it's not enough to cover more than one, or maybe two lean years (HCOL). I need five. Luckily my spouse was able to find a new freelance gig, but we're not sure how long it will last, and his earning power is substantially less than mine. But I am DONE with working. I could have been very productive and content in my current job, but I'm just not ready to look for and start a new thing. So I'm looking for advice on how to manage the next several years. We're selling our house so that we can downsize our housing cost, but might not net anything from that sale due to current market conditions and not having enough equity or liquid savings to make necessary fixes. I know I need to start making aggressive Roth conversions, but I'm worried about being able to cover the taxes on that. This year and next will be our highest tax bracket years. Once I hit 60, we'll be able to manage quite well - I'm just looking for strategies to stay unemployed until I get there. Any advice?

I'm in PA, but more focused on the federal implications. (retired) my joint return: * 50K ordinary income (Roth conversion) * 20K dividends + interest * 26,699 LT cap gains * 1 dependent (college student) child (20yo): * 50K withdrawal from UGMA to pay college tuition * 30K LT cap gains on that withdrawal The kiddie tax is most often summarized as "applying the parent's marginal tax rate to the child", but in my case the CG rate would be 0%. In reality, would my child's tax liability essentially add their cap gains (minus a small amount) to my income and then be taxed at 15%? If so, what would be the implication of just not declaring them as a dependent and have them file completely on their own? TIA - I've received some really helpful info here before.