Some experts suggest planning to live on a minimum of 65 to 75% of your current income in retirement. According to these parameters, you may need 10 to 12 times your current annual salary saved by the time you retire. Experts say to have at least seven times your salary saved at age 55.
Fidelity estimated that those saving for retirement should have a minimum of seven times their salary by age 55. That means that if your annual salary is currently $70,000, you will want to plan on saving at least $490,000 saved.
In fact, a recent survey found that investors believe they'll need at least $3 million to retire comfortably. But retiring with $1 million is still possible, even as early as age 55, if you're smart about it. It will require some careful planning since you'll have to wait 10 years for Medicare, but it can be done.
If you have multiple income streams, a detailed spending plan and keep extra expenses to a minimum, you can retire at 55 on $2 million. However, because each retiree's circumstances are unique, it's essential to define your income and expenses, then run the numbers to ensure retiring at 55 is realistic.
Most American households have at least $1,000 in checking or savings accounts. But only about 12% have more than $100,000 in checking and savings.
Bottom Line. Most people will be perfectly capable of supporting a $5,000 monthly retirement budget on $3 million, as long as it's adequately liquid and properly diversified. However, the math is never the full story.
1,821,745 Households in the United States Have Investment Portfolios Worth $3,000,000 or More.
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.
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.
If you retire with no money, you'll have to consider ways to create income to pay your living expenses. That might include applying for Social Security retirement benefits, getting a reverse mortgage if you own a home, or starting a side hustle or part-time job to generate a steady paycheck.
However, you unfortunately cannot begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits at 55. The earliest age you can begin drawing Social Security retirement benefits is 62. But there's a catch. Taking Social Security benefits prior to reaching your full retirement age results in a reduction of your benefit amount.
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.
With $400,000, if you buy an annuity at age 62 and then retire, you might expect monthly payments of around $2,400 for the rest of your life. This comes to about $28,800 per year in guaranteed income according to one estimate.
This brings us to the question -- can a retired person live on $4,000 a month? The answer is yes, almost 1 in 3 retirees today are spending between $2,000 and $3,999 per month, implying that $4,000 is a good monthly income for a retiree.
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.
This money will need to last around 40 years to comfortably ensure that you won't outlive your savings. This means you can probably boost your total withdrawals (principal and yield) to around $20,000 per year. This will give you a pre-tax income of $35,000 per year.
It's how we make money. But our editorial integrity ensures our experts' opinions aren't influenced by compensation. Terms may apply to offers listed on this page. The median net worth is $12,000 for the lower class, $145,200 for the middle class, and $805,400 for the upper class.
We can also define middle class in terms of net worth. According to the U.S. Census data, the average net worth for U.S. households in 2022 is about $300,000. The median net worth is about $110,000 in 2024. In other words, wealth is concentrated at the top.
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.
To figure out just how much money you need to save to retire by 55, Doe suggests using a common rule of thumb: Take your current salary and multiply it by 10. Keep in mind that this is just a jumping-off point — there are many other factors you'll need to consider.
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.
Financial professionals break down the category into three classifications of wealth: High-net-worth individuals. HNWIs are people or households who own liquid assets valued between $1 million and $5 million. Very-high-net-worth individuals.