If you retire at 60, $2 million won't stretch as far as it would if you retired at 70, as the money needs to cover a longer retirement period. The earlier you retire, the greater the risk of outliving your savings, which makes proper financial planning essential.
It's recommended that most couples save at least seven to eight times their combined annual income to retire comfortably. This number may seem daunting until you remember that savings compound over time.
The 95th percentile, with a net worth of $3.2 million, is considered wealthy, facilitating estate planning and possibly owning multiple homes. The top 1%, or the 99th percentile, has a net worth of $16.7 million and represents the very wealthy, who enjoy considerable financial freedom and luxury.
A $2 million nest egg could last 35 years if you budgeted roughly $57,000 every year. The average household in 2021 spent about $67,000. Proper financial planning can help you spread that $2 million out further, as well outpace inflation while you save for retirement.
Low-income people may retire by cutting their expenses, downsizing their homes, taking Social Security benefits early, and/or applying for financial assistance through government benefit programs.
You can get Social Security retirement benefits and work at the same time. However, if you are younger than full retirement age and make more than the yearly earnings limit, we will reduce your benefits. Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, we will not reduce your benefits no matter how much you earn.
You should have 5.5 to 11 times your salary saved by age 60 to consider yourself on track for retirement, according to T. Rowe Price. So, if you earn $100,000 a year, ideally you have savings of $550,000 to $1.1 million in your retirement accounts by age 60.
The average retirement savings for a person about to retire are approximately, $225,000, equal to $450,000 combined for a couple that has saved equally. Following the conservative rule of thumb and withdrawing 4% a year will provide this couple with another $1,500 monthly or $18,000 a year.
A $2 million nest egg can provide $80,000 of annual income when the principal gives a return of 4%. This estimate is on the conservative side, making $80,000 a solid benchmark for retirement income with this sum of money.
In 2023 they will each turn 60 years old. Dreams of retirement in a small town by the lake and making their $2 million last become their main focus. It is time for them to enter a new chapter of their lives, together. Both in pristine health, they will need their money to last up to 35 years or until age 95!
At its most basic, net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe. To calculate your net worth, tally the value of all or your assets, including bank accounts, investments, and perhaps the value of your home or vacation home.
$2.6 million
That lofty sum represents the net worth of the median American family in the upper 10% of income, a range that most of us would deem wealthy.
One single person in retirement spends 70 percent to 75 percent of what a couple spends, according to a report from the American Academy of Actuaries. On a per-person basis, the cost of living for singles is 40 percent to 50 percent higher than that for married people.
Retirement Savings Benchmarks for Married Couples
Financial experts say that a couple aged 60 with a dual income of $75,000 per year should have seven times their household income in their retirement account. This multiplies to a total of $525,000 saved.
Social Security offers a monthly benefit check to many kinds of recipients. As of December 2023, the average check is $1,767.03, according to the Social Security Administration – but that amount can differ drastically depending on the type of recipient. In fact, retirees typically make more than the overall average.
According to EBRI estimates based on the latest Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 3.2% of retirees have over $1 million in their retirement accounts, while just 0.1% have $5 million or more. However, there's a surprising amount of information to unpack.
1,821,745 Households in the United States Have Investment Portfolios Worth $3,000,000 or More.
The bottom line
$3 million in retirement savings should more than adequately fund your existence and expenses as a retiree, allowing you a high degree of financial freedom and comfort in your later life. This large sum of money will insulate you until your passing.
The average American spends $4,345 per month in retirement, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's $52,141 per year.
As of 2022, the average monthly benefit amount from Social Security for couples was $2,739.10. That works out to about $32,868 in annual income. Of course, the income that you can expect to receive depends a lot on your circumstances.
As of 2022, the median household income in the U.S. was $74,580, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Assuming a middle-class retiree earned this salary and retired at age 65 — specifically 65 and 11 months — their Social Security benefit would be $1,867 per month.
Filing for Social Security at age 62 could also end up making sense financially if you're worried you won't end up living a very long life. While you'll shrink your benefits on a monthly basis, by getting to collect that money sooner, you might end up with a higher amount of lifetime benefits.
If you delay taking your benefits from your full retirement age up to age 70, your benefit amount will increase. If you start receiving benefits early, your benefits are reduced a small percent for each month before your full retirement age.
While you may have heard at some point that Social Security is no longer taxable after 70 or some other age, this isn't the case. In reality, Social Security is taxed at any age if your income exceeds a certain level.