MARK KOHLERMain Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, LLC · Owner at Main Street Professionals, LLC

How to Withdraw Tax-Free Cash 💸

22 May 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:45

In this video, Mark Kohler explains why he prefers Roth IRAs, emphasizing their core benefit of tax‑free growth and tax‑free withdrawals. He outlines the key rule that contributions (but not earnings) can be withdrawn at any time without penalty or taxes, while earnings must remain until age 59½ to avoid penalties. Kohler advises a savings hierarchy: first capture any employer match, then fund a Roth IRA, stressing the importance of planning ahead rather than guessing which account will be optimal later.

Chapters

Now, why do I like the Roth IRA? Well, fundamentally, it's tax-free growth. I can invest in anything, pay zero tax, and pull it out tax-free. Now, I've got to wait till I'm 59 and a half, but until I get there, I can always pull out my contributions penalty-free and tax-free. The growth has to stay there, or there's a penalty if I pull it out early. But if there's an emergency, I need it, I can always pull out my contributions. Now, there's a lot of benefits of Roth IRAs, but the fundamental concept is Tax-free growth, tax-free withdrawals. So if I have enough money, I'm going to start going through a hierarchy. I'm going to do that match, then I'm going to go fund my Roth IRA. And the goal is not to guess today which bucket will be best. You want to plan in advance so that you're not having to guess about this later.