Can I Retire at 62 With $1,000,000?
In every stretch of US market history since 1928, a single 62-year-old with $1,000,000 could have spent $4,650 a month after tax through age 95 without the money falling short. That figure comes on top of $1,439 a month for health insurance until 65, and it counts a Social Security check of $2,500 a month starting at 67.
The households in this article are made up so the numbers can be checked. The single household has $1,000,000 saved, 60% of it in stocks, a 4% state income tax and a plan that runs to age 95. Change any of those and the answer moves, which the last section covers.
How was $4,650 a month tested?
Each stretch of history starts in one calendar year, beginning with 1928 and moving forward a year at a time, and runs to age 95. There is one stretch per starting year, never one per month. The plan is run through every one of them, using market data from 1928 through 2025.
The $4,650 is the highest monthly spending after tax that never fell short in any of those stretches. Health insurance until 65 is paid first, so the plan covers both. Over a year, that spending comes to $55,800.
The hardest starting years set the ceiling. A retirement that begins just before a long market slide has to sell while prices are down, and the sequence of returns explains why those early years carry so much weight at 62.
The savings in this example sit in four kinds of accounts:
- 70% pre-tax, such as a traditional workplace plan or IRA
- 10% Roth
- 15% in a taxable brokerage account
- 5% in cash
Money drawn from the pre-tax share is taxed as income, which is why the plan reports spending after tax. Required minimum distributions begin at 75 in this plan.
Will I pay early withdrawal penalties at 62?
The early withdrawal penalty on retirement accounts applies before age 59 and a half. At 62 there are no penalty years, so every account is open from the first month. The 60-year-old spouse in the married example is also past 59 and a half, so the couple has no penalty years either.
How much does Social Security add?
The single plan counts a Social Security check of $2,500 a month starting at 67, five years after the paycheck stops. Until then, the savings pay for everything.
Take Social Security out and the same $1,000,000 supports $2,700 a month. With the check counted, the plan can pay $1,950 a month more for the whole retirement, even though the check doesn't arrive until 67. The savings can be spent faster in the early years because a second source of money is coming.
What does health insurance cost before 65?
The plan sets aside $1,439 a month for one person's coverage from 62 until 65. That money is paid before the $4,650 is counted, so for those three years the savings fund both the insurance and the spending.
What if I'm married?
The married example has a 62-year-old and a 60-year-old spouse with the same $1,000,000. Their Social Security checks are $2,800 and $1,600 a month, each starting at 67.
The couple pays two health insurance premiums, $2,878 a month, until the older spouse turns 65. Two premiums can leave a couple with less to spend than a single person with the same savings. In this example the couple still comes out ahead, at $5,880 a month after tax, or $70,560 a year. That is $1,230 a month more than the single household.
| Household | Saved | Social Security from 67 | Most it pays each month | With a trim rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $1,000,000 | $2,500 | $4,650 | $5,110 |
| Married, 62 and 60 | $1,000,000 | $2,800 + $1,600 | $5,880 | $6,550 |
What is the trim rule?
The figures above are the strict version, where spending holds steady through good and bad markets. The flex version adds a trim rule, which lets spending come down for a while after markets fall hard. A household that accepts those trims can start at a higher monthly figure.
With the trim rule, the single household's figure rises to $5,110 a month, which is $460 more. The couple's rises to $6,550, which is $670 more. Without Social Security, the single figure with the trim rule is $2,940. The method page explains how the trim works.
What would change these numbers?
Every figure here comes from one set of assumptions. A different stock share, a higher or lower state tax, a different split across accounts or a later Social Security start would each move the monthly figure. A plan that runs past 95 would also pay less each month.
History covers 1928 through 2025, and future markets can be worse than any stretch in it. The test shows what this plan would have paid in every starting year on record, which is a different thing from a forecast.
For the same savings at an earlier age, see retiring at 60 with $1,000,000. To test your own savings, ages and accounts, build a plan.
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 62 (the married spouse is 60), 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 from 75, with a 4% state tax. Health insurance before 65 is the 2026 KFF benchmark silver premium for each person's age, counted for both until the older spouse turns 65. 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. How Afterwork Plan works.