Without realizing the dreams of a penthouse or private planes in the immediate future, I would suggest you act like a 20 year old making their initial 401k cont

Without realizing the dreams of a penthouse or private planes in the immediate future, I would suggest you act like a 20 year old making their initial 401k contributions. Invest aggressively. Investments regularly hit 10-15% annual return. The downside is your investments are almost entirely tied to the unpredictable stock market. But in 10-15 years, you can cash out larger portions without touching the principle. If you want to play it safer with the 4-5% return, there are safer mutual funds to invest with. Less risk and less returns. But for arguments sake, will 4-5% cover the inflation you experience as you grow older?