Some of turn 59 and 1/2 and will start retiring on 7/1/2024, that's when the can withdraw from IRAs penalty free.  They will have a major impact on the hobby.  More free time to hobby.

There is NEVER an age at which you can take money from an IRA "penalty free." You will always have to pay taxes on it. And you MUST begin taking money from your IRA when you hit age 72. It's called a Required Minimum Distribution. When you take it you must also pay income taxes on it to the IRS.
Please only take financial advice from a professional advisor, NOT from an anonymous monger on a fuck board.

You're gonna come here and act like an expert you better get your shit straight.

In the financial world, taxes are not considered "penalties." No one that I am aware in that field ever uses those two terms interchangeably. In fact, I have always seen them mentioned totally separately.  
.
From the below link, although you can pick any major financial services institution and it would still be the same:
"Once you reach age 59½, you can withdraw funds from your Traditional IRA without restrictions or penalties."
.
Dave wasn't giving advice, he was just commenting that many people are now hitting that 59 1/2 yo threshold and more money will be available to many more people which will in turn some of which will be directed to SWs.

Ya’ll responding to what he said, and I’m here scratching my head trying to understand what he is saying.

I don't doubt both the elaborations above are correct. But I'll stand by my warning not to take advice from an anonymous poster on a fuck board. Also, Dave has put out a lot of idiotic "information" here in the past.

If one takes money out of a IRA before 59 1/2 they have to pay an IRS penalty (10%) .   The penalty was put in place to discourage folks for taking out money before 59 1/2.  The free time comes from people who will retire because they using IRA funds to pay for living expenses instead of working.

people who use an IRA to plan for retirement and then retire at 59-1/2 can be found years later working as a Walmart greeter.  If you don't have enough put away to retire at the same lifestyle as when you were working, odds are you are in for a rude awakening at some point.  

These facts I am very aware of as someone approaching that age. But I thought the OP was trying to make a point about this having some impact on the hobby. Just not sure what.

OP seems to believe IRA money will suddenly come gushing into providers' coffers, but he ignores the fact that 401(k)'s and IRA's were mechanisms created to encourage workers to fund their own RETIREMENT, which could last 30+ years, since companies were doing away with defined benefits programs, i.e. pensions. Having  that extra time comes without a paycheck to cover daily living expenses and unexpected financial events such as a medical emergency. That all has to come out of Social Security, pension (if any), and retirement savings. Of course, none of this applies if you're independently wealthy in which case you can pretty much do whatever you want whenever you want.

For example, the age for RMDs is 73 if you reach age 72 after Dec. 31, 2022.

Accumulated enormous amounts of wealth in them.  So much so that they won't be able to spend it all even after 30 years.  They took enormous risks and managed to lock in the gains.  

It's a declining graph, oh my.

Happens every day. Nothing magical about July 1st. Nothing different about Gen-x.
Impact = zero.
And the misuse/ interpretation of charts is remarkable.

-- Modified on 7/2/2024 6:29:47 AM

Ira’s are much like sex, there are penalties for early withdrawal.

Per the Federal Reserve's [2022] Survey of Consumer Finances, the MEDIAN Retirements Savings of age group 55 to 64 is $185,000 .  For age group 65 to 74, it's $200,000 .  While there are certainly wealthy outliers that shift the AVERAGE value higher, I don't believe they will fuel the tital wave of spending as prognosticated by the OP.  

You can start drawing at 55.. see rule of 55.... so anyone who was smart enough to roll thier 401k money into their last employers plan.. can draw on that at the age of 55 and one with no penalty.

". . . note that employers are not obliged to allow early withdrawals; and, if they do allow them, they may require that the entire amount be taken out in one lump-sum withdrawal. This could expose you to a higher income tax."

So you roll it into a self managed 401k then, right ?

I don't know what you mean by a "self-managed" 401(k). Your employer determines what investments are available, whether you can borrow from them, and how often you can withdraw money in a calendar year. However, you're free to "self-manage" your asset allocation.