What does your ideal retirement look like? Living in a tiny place and eating the senior special at 4:30 p.m. every day, or having a comfortable home and eating dinner whenever you want? You can create the easygoing retirement of your dreams if you know how to take full advantage of the perks available within your tax-advantaged retirement plans.

The purpose of a 401(k) is to provide retirement income, so the last thing you ever want to do is access that money while you're still working. But if times get tough and you grow desperate for cash, you might be tempted to tap that account early and access the money that's technically yours.