The 4% rule suggests that a $1.5 million portfolio will provide for at least 30 years approximately $60,000 a year before taxes for you to live on in retirement.
You can certainly retire comfortably at age 65 on a $1.5 million, but your ability to do so relies on how you want to live in retirement, how much you plan to spend, when you plan to claim Social Security and how your portfolio is structured.
Working with this benchmark, it is feasible to live off 1.5 million. For a 65-year-old with an average life expectancy of 17 years, that's roughly $85,000 yearly for expenses. Of course, certain factors come into play here.
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.
According to data from the Federal Reserve's most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, the average 65 to 74-year-old has a little over $426,000 saved.
The average retirement savings for all families is $333,940 according to the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances. Taken on their own, those numbers aren't incredibly helpful. There are a variety of decent retirement savings benchmarks out there, but how much money other people have isn't one of them.
According to Schwab's 2023 Modern Wealth Survey, Americans perceive an average net worth of $2.2 million as wealthy. Knight Frank's research indicates that a net worth of $4.4 million is required to be in the top 1% in America, a figure much higher than in countries like Japan, the U.K. and Australia.
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.
However, not a huge percentage of retirees end up having that much money. In fact, statistically, around 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in savings.
Americans need at least $2.2 million in assets to be considered rich, according to Charles Schwab's 2023 Modern Wealth Survey. The investment platform surveyed 1,000 Americans to determine the average net worth required to be considered wealthy in America.
Let's say you put your $1.5 million into various funds and keep them there for 20 years. With an average annual return of 10% compounding over those 20 years, your $1.5 million will turn into over $10 million.
A retirement savings of $1.8 million will last 39 years due to a low cost of living and annual transportation expenditures of $3,639.36.
Retiring in comfort at 45 with $1.5 million is likely doable as long as your retirement living expenses are no more than average, your investments generate a typical return and you have good health. Challenges include waiting 17 years for Social Security and 20 years for Medicare.
Based on this, if you retire at age 65 and live until you turn 84, $1 million will probably be enough retirement savings for you.
The median household income for Americans aged 65 and over was $50,290 in 2022, according to the most recent Census Bureau data. That breaks down to an average of $4,190.83 a month. In 2024, the social security benefit will increase by 3.2% — matching the rate of inflation in October.
If you earned around $50,000 per year before retirement, the odds are good that a $300,000 retirement account and Social Security benefits will allow you to continue enjoying your same lifestyle. By age 55 the median American household has about $120,000 saved for retirement, and about $212,500 in net worth.
In 2020, according to Pew Research Center analysis, the median for upper income households was around $220,000 and the median for middle income households was slightly above $90,000.
The Sept. 8 report said the minimum annual income required in 2023 for a family of four to be middle class in California is $69,064. Alabama and Arkansas both required the lowest minimum income to be considered middle class, at $51,798.
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.
1,821,745 Households in the United States Have Investment Portfolios Worth $3,000,000 or More.
This number has been cited so often that investors may feel as if they're failing if they don't reach it. But that shouldn't be the case. In fact, statistically, just 10% of Americans have saved $1 million or more for retirement.
Some sources define upper middle class as anyone who's making a lot of money but hasn't quite crossed the threshold to become truly wealthy yet. These individuals often have a net worth of at least $500,000 to $2 million.