How much do you need to retire? And is $1 million enough?

How much you need to retire comes down to one gap: what you'll spend each year, minus the income you can count on, like Social Security or a pension. A common rule of thumb is to save about 25 times that yearly gap, so $1 million is enough if your savings need to cover around $40,000 a year, and it may not be if they need to cover much more.

That's why two people with the same $1 million can feel completely differently about it. One spends $55,000 a year and expects $30,000 from Social Security. The other spends $90,000 and plans to stop at 58. The number that matters is yours, and you can work it out in an afternoon.

This is general education, not financial advice. Your spending, taxes, health, family and accounts all matter. Check the details with SSA, your plan administrator and a licensed professional before you decide.

Figures checked October 18, 2026. Required minimum distribution age checked against IRS.gov. Fidelity's savings guideline checked against Fidelity.com. Social Security rules reuse our October 16, 2026 check of SSA.gov (SSA.gov blocks automated page loads). Medicare Part B 2026 premium from CMS, as in our [Medicare guide](/how-to-get-fire/medicare-in-plain-english).

The three-step way to find your number

1. Estimate what you'll spend each year in retirement. Start from what you spend today. Take out costs that will end, like commuting, saving for retirement itself, and perhaps a mortgage. Add costs that start, like health insurance before Medicare, travel or hobbies. Include taxes: money from a traditional 401(k) or IRA is generally taxed as income when you take it out.
2. Subtract the income you can count on. Social Security from the age you plan to claim, any pension, rental income, or part-time work you're fairly sure of.
3. Turn the gap into a savings target. Multiply the yearly gap by 25 (a 4% withdrawal rate). If you're retiring early or want more cushion, try 28 or 29 times (about 3.5%).

The FIRE number calculator does this with your own numbers in a couple of minutes.

A made-up example

A couple plans to spend $70,000 a year, including taxes. Starting at 67, they expect about $38,000 a year from Social Security between them.

• Gap: $70,000 − $38,000 = $32,000 a year from savings.
• At 25 times: $32,000 × 25 = $800,000.
• At about 29 times (3.5%): about $915,000.

All numbers are made up and ignore investment returns, taxes on Social Security and changes in spending. The point: once Social Security is counted, the savings target can be much smaller than the headline numbers suggest.

Is $1 million enough to retire?

For many people, yes. Here's what $1 million looks like at a few withdrawal rates (made-up, before tax, first year, then raised with inflation):

| Withdrawal rate | First year from $1 million | Often used for | |---|---|---| | 3.5% | $35,000 | Retiring early, or wanting extra cushion | | 4% | $40,000 | A 30-year retirement, the classic rule of thumb | | 4.5% to 5% | $45,000 to $50,000 | Shorter retirements, or people willing to cut back in bad years |

Now add Social Security. If one person gets $2,000 a month at 67, that's $24,000 a year on top. So $1 million plus that check is roughly $64,000 a year before tax at a 4% rate. Whether that's enough depends on what you spend.

$1 million is likely to stretch further if:

• your home is paid off, or nearly
• you have a pension or a larger Social Security benefit coming
• you'll retire at 65 or later, so Medicare covers you from the start
• you're happy to spend a little less in bad market years

$1 million may be tight if:

• you plan to stop work well before 62, with years to cover before Social Security can start
• you'll pay for private health insurance for several years before 65
• most of it is in pre-tax accounts and you live in a high-tax state
• you have large fixed costs, like rent in an expensive city or support for family

None of this is a verdict. It just shows which parts of your plan matter most.

What about "10 times your salary"?

One widely quoted guideline from Fidelity is to have about 10 times your salary saved by 67, with milestones of 1× by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50 and 8× by 60 (Fidelity, September 2026).

It's a useful nudge, but look at the assumptions behind it: saving 15% of income every year starting at 25, retiring at 67 and planning to age 93. If your path was different (a late start, years out of work, a pension coming), the guideline can make you feel behind when your own plan may work fine. If you are behind, behind on retirement savings covers what to do next, calmly.

The costs people forget

• Health insurance before 65. Medicare generally starts at 65. Before that, it's an employer plan, COBRA or the Marketplace. Health insurance before Medicare walks through the options.
• Medicare isn't free. For 2026, the standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month per person (CMS), before any drug plan, supplement or out-of-pocket costs.
• Taxes. Withdrawals from traditional accounts are generally taxed as income, and from 73 the IRS requires you to start taking minimum withdrawals from most of them (IRS). Which account do you spend first? covers the order.
• Lumpy costs. A new roof, a car every eight to ten years, helping family. Many people set aside a separate amount for these rather than squeezing them into a yearly budget.
• A longer life than you expect. Planning to your early 90s, as Fidelity's model does, is common. Running out at 85 is the risk most worth avoiding.

How Social Security changes your number

For many households, Social Security is the biggest single source of retirement income, and it's adjusted for inflation each year. You can start it any month from 62 to 70. For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67. Claiming at 62 means a check about 30% smaller for life, and each year you wait past 67 adds 8%, up to 70 (SSA, SSA).

In round, made-up numbers: a $2,000 monthly benefit at 67 would be about $1,400 at 62 and about $2,480 at 70. Over a year, that's the difference between $16,800 and $29,760, and every dollar of it is a dollar your savings don't have to provide.

Your own estimate is free at my Social Security. The Social Security timing calculator compares claiming ages, and when to claim Social Security goes deeper.

If your number feels out of reach

It's very common to run the numbers and feel a jolt. A few things move the target more than people expect:

• Spend a little less. Every $1,000 a year you don't need lowers the target by about $25,000 at a 4% rate.
• Work a little longer, or a little differently. Each extra year adds savings, removes a year to fund and can raise your Social Security check. Part-time work counts. See earning a little in early retirement.
• Use catch-up room. From 50, the IRS lets you add more to a 401(k) and an IRA. See catch-up contributions after 50.
• Be flexible in bad years. Being willing to trim spending after a market drop lets a plan start a little higher or run safer. The 4% rule guide explains "guardrails".

And if your number turns out to be smaller than you feared, one more year is about knowing when you've done enough.

A simple plan for this week

1. Write down what you spend in a normal month, roughly. Multiply by 12.
2. Adjust it for retirement: take out work costs and saving; add health cover and the things you want to do.
3. Get your Social Security estimate at ssa.gov/myaccount, at 62, 67 and 70.
4. Work out the gap and multiply by 25 (or 29 for more cushion). Or use the FIRE number calculator.
5. Add up what you have across every account.
6. Pick one lever to test: a year later, $5,000 less spending, or claiming at a different age. See how much it moves the number.

Common questions

How much do I need to retire comfortably?

There's no single figure. A common starting point is 25 times the yearly gap between what you'll spend and the income you can count on, like Social Security or a pension. For example, a $30,000 yearly gap points to about $750,000. Your spending is what makes it "comfortable", so start there.

Is $1 million enough to retire at 62?

It can be. At a 4% rate, $1 million gives about $40,000 a year before tax, plus whatever Social Security pays from 62 or later. The two things to plan for are health insurance until Medicare at 65 and whether claiming Social Security early or late suits your health and other income.

How long will $1 million last in retirement?

It depends on how much you take out and how markets behave, especially in the first years. Taking $40,000 a year, raised with inflation, is the classic 4% rule, which historically lasted at least 30 years in the studies it came from. Taking $70,000 a year from the same $1 million would be far riskier. This is history, not a promise.

Does my number include Social Security?

It should. Social Security reduces the amount your savings need to cover. Subtract your expected benefit from your yearly spending first, then size your savings for what's left. Your estimate is at ssa.gov/myaccount.

What is the 4% rule?

It's a rule of thumb from 1990s research: take 4% of your savings in the first year of retirement, then raise that amount with inflation each year. Turned around, it means saving about 25 times your yearly spending from savings. It was built on 30-year retirements, so people retiring early often plan on a little less.

Next step

The free Retirement Readiness Checklist turns this into 25 plain-English checks for your 40s, 50s and 60s: sizing your number, catch-up limits, reaching your money before 59½, Social Security, and health cover before 65. It's printable and yours to keep.

See the Retirement Readiness Checklist →

Just getting started? The FIRE Starter Workbook is free too.