For most retirees, Social Security and (to a lesser degree) pensions are the two primary sources of regular income in retirement. You usually can collect these payments early—at age 62 for Social Security and sometimes as early as age 55 with a pension.
What is the average and median retirement savings? The average retirement savings for all families is $333,940 according to the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances.
You'll likely need assets worth 10 to 16 times your salary by the time you leave your job. A 45-year-old making $120,000 who hopes to retire at age 60, say, should already have nearly $700,000 set aside. (See the Retire Early calculator.) You can get by with less if you'll have other sources of income.
Based on the 80% principle, you can expect to need about $96,000 in annual income after you retire, which is $8,000 per month.
There is no one-size-fits-all plan when it comes to how much you'll need to retire, but there are a few rules of thumb. Some strategies call for having 10-12 times your final working year's salary, or specific multiples of your annual income that increase as you age.
Generally speaking, you can retire at 60 with $500,000, but you may not like how much income you have or it may not be enough for your needs. However, some people can retire on less.
Top the amount with 401(k) savings, living on $3,000 a month after taxes is possible for a retiree. For those who only have social security benefits to rely on, there are many places where they can retire on their checks both in the USA and around the world.
The average American spends $4,345 per month in retirement, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's $52,141 per year.
The above chart shows that U.S. residents 35 and under have an average of $30,170 in retirement savings; those 35 to 44 have an average $131,950; those 45 to 54 have an average $254,720; those 55 to 64 have an average $408,420; those 65 to 74 have an average $426,070; and those over 70 have an average $357,920.
Key Takeaways. Retiring with little to no money saved is not impossible, but it can present some challenges to your financial plan. Depending on where you're starting from, you may need to delay Social Security benefits, work longer, or drastically reduce expenses to retire with no money saved.
Without enough retirement savings, you will likely need to make drastic lifestyle changes. This could mean selling a home, if you have one, or moving to a lower cost of living area. It could also mean giving up life's little luxuries you've come to enjoy.
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.
Nearly 2 in 5 Retirees Have No Retirement Savings
The survey found that about 37% of retirees say they have no retirement savings, up from 30% in 2022, and only about 12% have at least the recommended $555,000 in savings.
Nearly one in four (22 percent) U.S. adults said they have no emergency savings. Despite economic challenges, the percentage remains relatively unchanged year-over-year. In 2022, 23 percent of Americans had no emergency savings.
Housing. Housing expenses—which include mortgage, rent, property tax, insurance, maintenance and repair costs—remained the largest expense for retirees. More specifically, the average retiree household pays an average of $17,454 per year ($1,455 per month) on housing costs, representing over 35% of annual expenditures.
Housing. Housing—which includes mortgage, rent, property tax, insurance, maintenance and repair costs—is the largest expense for retirees.
The rule of thumb is that you can expect your expenses to be 70% to 80% of what they were before you retired. So if you spent $1,000 each month before you retired, you could expect to spend about $700 to $800 each month in retirement.
A plurality of older Americans, 40.2 percent, only receive income from Social Security in retirement. Roughly equal numbers of older Americans receive income from defined benefit pensions as from defined contribution plans.
Is Living on Social Security Alone Possible? You can potentially use Social Security alone to support yourself, but you would need to plan in advance to ensure that your monthly check will cover your necessary expenses at minimum, including your food and housing.
Taking the same calculations as if you plan to retire at 50, suppose you plan to retire at 60 with $100k in savings, and you need this money to last for now 20 years until the age of 80. Without including income from other sources, this would leave you with a monthly income of just $417.
If you have $400,000 in the bank you can retire early at age 62, but it will be tight. The good news is that if you can keep working for just five more years, you are on track for a potentially quite comfortable retirement by full retirement age.
As we have established, retiring on $500k is entirely feasible. With the addition of Social Security benefits, the possibility of retiring with $500k becomes even more possible. In retirement, Social Security benefits can provide an additional $1,800 per month, on average.
If you have more than $1 million saved in retirement accounts, you are in the top 3% of retirees. 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.