Can you retire at 60 with $1 million? What about $1.5 million?
A single 60-year-old with $1 million could spend $4,360 a month after tax from 60 to 95, and that held up in every stretch of US market history since 1928. That's on top of $1,403 a month for health insurance until Medicare, with Social Security of $2,500 a month starting at 67. With $1.5 million, the same person could spend $5,580.
Whether that's enough depends on what you spend. Here are four made-up households, run through the same planner you can use for free.
| Household | Saved at 60 | Social Security from 67 | Most it pays each month | With a trim rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $1,000,000 | $2,500 | $4,360 | $4,800 |
| Single | $1,500,000 | $2,500 | $5,580 | $6,110 |
| Married, 60 and 58 | $1,000,000 | $2,800 + $1,600 | $5,070 | $5,680 |
| Married, 60 and 58 | $1,500,000 | $2,800 + $1,600 | $6,650 | $7,420 |
Is $1.5 million enough to retire at 60?
For a single person who spends up to about $5,580 a month after tax, plus health insurance until 65, it held up in every stretch of history. For a married couple, the line was about $6,650 a month. If your spending sits below those numbers and your situation looks like these households, the history says yes.
The extra $500,000 over $1 million adds $1,220 a month for a single person and $1,580 a month for a couple.
How much of this is Social Security
Take Social Security out and a single person with $1 million could spend $2,560 a month. With $1.5 million, $3,890. So a $2,500 check starting at 67 adds about $1,800 a month to what you can spend from the day you stop. It's worth less than its face amount because it doesn't start for seven years and part of it is taxed.
Your own estimate is on your Social Security statement at ssa.gov/myaccount.
What a trim rule adds
The last column assumes one simple rule: spend 10% less whenever your savings are 20% below where they started, and go back to normal once they recover. Selling less in bad years lets you spend more the rest of the time. It raises the single $1 million household by $440 a month and the $1.5 million couple by $770. The bad stretches hit hardest in the first years after you stop; here's why the order of market years matters.
What would change these numbers
- Where the money sits. These households hold 70% of their savings in pre-tax 401(k)s and IRAs, so most withdrawals are taxed as income. More in Roth accounts means less tax on the same spending.
- Health insurance. The $1,403 is the 2026 marketplace benchmark price for a 60-year-old before any premium tax credit. Depending on your income, a premium tax credit can lower it.
- Your investment mix. These households hold 60% in stocks. A different mix changes which years of history would have hurt, and by how much.
- State tax and a longer life. We used a flat 4% state tax and planned to 95. A plan to 100 pays less each month.
Run your own numbers
Afterwork Plan uses your real savings, spending, Social Security, pension and taxes, tests them against every stretch of history since 1928, and shows the earliest month you can stop. The answer is free.
Get my answerHow we calculated this. Made-up households, run through the Afterwork Plan engine. Age 60 (the married spouse is 58), stopping work now, planning to 95. Savings are 70% pre-tax, 10% Roth, 15% in a brokerage account and 5% cash, invested 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds. Social Security starts at 67 for each person. Federal tax uses 2026 law, including tax on Social Security and required withdrawals, with a 4% state tax. Health insurance before 65 is the 2026 KFF benchmark silver premium scaled to age 60. Market history is the S&P 500 with dividends, 10-year Treasuries, Treasury bills and inflation from 1928 to 2025, compiled by Aswath Damodaran at NYU Stern. "Most it pays" is the highest monthly spending that never fell short in any full stretch of that history. This is history, and future markets can be worse. Educational only, not investment advice.