Can I Retire at 60 With $1 Million?

The short answer

Yes, for many people — but it depends on your spending. A $1 million portfolio sustainably supports roughly $35,000 to $40,000 a year in the early going, before Social Security starts. If your retirement spending fits inside that (plus Social Security later), $1 million at 60 works. If you need $70,000 a year with no other income, it's tight.

The withdrawal math

The traditional 4% rule says you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio in year one, then adjust that dollar amount for inflation, with a high chance of the money lasting 30 years. On $1 million that's $40,000 a year. But retiring at 60 means a potentially 30–35 year retirement, so many planners use a more conservative 3.5% — about $35,000 a year — for extra safety.

Withdrawal rate	Annual income	Monthly income
3.5% (conservative)	$35,000	$2,917
4% (traditional)	$40,000	$3,333

See how long $1 million lasts at your spending, return and inflation assumptions with the retirement withdrawal calculator.

The two gaps at 60

Retiring at 60 rather than 67 creates two specific challenges:

• No Social Security yet. Benefits can start at 62 at a reduced rate, or wait until your full retirement age (67 for anyone born in 1960 or later) for the full amount. From 60 to whenever you claim, your portfolio covers everything. Estimate your benefit and claiming trade-offs with the Social Security calculator.
• No Medicare until 65. You'll need individual-market health insurance for the gap, commonly one of the largest and most underestimated early-retirement costs.

Social Security changes everything later

Social Security is the bridge that makes $1 million work. Say your portfolio covers $40,000 a year from 60, and at 67 you start collecting $24,000 a year from Social Security. From 67 on, your portfolio only needs to cover the remaining $16,000 — a far lighter load that dramatically improves how long the money lasts. That's why the early "bridge" years, before benefits begin, set the real difficulty of retiring at 60.

Three ways to make it comfortable

1. Right-size spending. Every $5,000 you cut from annual spending is like adding roughly $125,000 to your portfolio at a 4% rate. It's the most powerful lever.
2. Hold a cash buffer. One to three years of spending in cash means you're not forced to sell investments in a downturn early in retirement — the period when a bad market does the most damage.
3. Stay flexible. Being willing to trim spending in poor market years materially improves the odds the money lasts.

If $1 million isn't quite enough for your target, the Coast FIRE calculator and FIRE calculator show what number would be, and when you'd reach it.

The bottom line

$1 million at 60 comfortably funds a modest-to-middle retirement, especially once Social Security kicks in — and is stretched for a high-spending lifestyle in the bridge years. Build the plan around your actual spending, not a rule of thumb. The Social Security Administration's retirement benefits pages are the authoritative source for your own benefit estimate.