bgray, welcome to the forum.
First, note that Roth IRA contributions may be withdrawn tax free at any time.
This is true. Do note ONLY the contributions.
If you are looking to retire early, then you are going to need to likely sock cash away in a regular investment account. This would be an account with zero tax benefits.
With an IRA you will not have to pay taxes either on withdrawl or will have to pay at withdrawl. Obviously there are different advantages to both.
But for your sake you might want an investment account. This would be an account where if you sold for a profit you will pay the taxes that year. If you lost money then you could claim deductions on your taxes for the year.
My wife and I have a little account with TD Ameritrade where we put money away into individual stocks and we might sell at a profit. As long as you do not sell you will not have to pay taxes as these will be unrealized gains, but the moment you sell you will have to pay taxes. That is why they recommend at least about a 30% return on any individual stock so you can get a nice return after taxes.
I think Vanguard has a traditional account like I am describing that you can invest in index funds and such, but I like playing around with stocks.