Not really. If I take sell 50k of taxable funds or if I take 50k out of my IRA, in the end I have 50k of AGI. That is a bit simplistic (there is some start up and shut down effects and the cost basis is different but if you doing this for like 30 years they are pretty minimal) but without a lot of details on family size and expected withdrawals I wouldn't hazard to guess an exact number. But yeah there are some reasons why you might not want to max out the 0% and 10% OI brackets every year.
Can you have too much deferred? Sure. If you want to live on 40k/yr and you have 1 million in an IRA, your in trouble until your 59. On the other hand if you are like 250k taxable/750 ira, you can do the various games to shift the money to where you need it. In reality I don't think very many savers get close to not having enough taxable income as the 401(k) limits are pretty low.
RMD's start at about 4% at 70 and go up as you age. The are a pain to calculate but that is about it. If you happen to have 4 million bucks (in todays dollars) and only need 25k, don't lose any sleep over having to pay taxes. Focus on the part where you have plenty of cash for what you need and realize you wouldn't have had those 4 million bucks without the tax deferral.
Uh, where? and if it is in the US, also include the fact that ACA is in effect, so they would pay a substantial difference in medical insurance premium...
If you are in the 15% tax bracket, taking out money that is long term capital gains in taxable is 0% tax so there is a big difference than taking out from tax advantaged.
OK, I have no idea where this thread is going. I am only speaking from my perspective, which I am thinking about thoroughly, which is being a 40 y.o. with a majority of their retirement funds in 401k's (being married with an additional 401k balance from a formerly working wife). We could be like the previous generation, working into our early 50's and calling that early retirement, or we could be like 'early retirees today that downshift into real estate or YouTube channels' or whatever, but I have ruled those out for me. I want to get a relatively clear framework for judging when my net worth will meet my income needs. I think I am good to move on with my life, I don't need to leave an inheritance bonanza, but I'm surprised how little people have thought about 'their number' and how to reach it efficiently.
Like me, I think Mustachian's have a tilt toward the tax-advantaged. This actually makes it more efficient to retire early, because if I keep building into my traditional retirement age, I won't have time to spend it before the tax man makes me realize that I worked way too long into my life... I hope people start to think about what age is best to retire, which has been lacking if you are not getting into real estate or blogging or making a non-passive income and diving headlong into your passions of maybe Engineers Without Borders, Peace Corps, or whatever...
In summary, having a 401k puts an additional ball in your court, that you need to determine if it makes sense to work into your 50's and 60's...