Is $500K Enough to Retire?
Answer it in seconds. Put in what you've saved and what you spend — we'll show you whether the money lasts, and for how long. Free, no sign-up.
It can — but it’s tight. At 65, $500K leans hard on Social Security: the benefit often covers more than half your spending, and your savings fill the gap.
It works on a lean, careful budget — roughly $40,000 a year all-in. Spend much past that, or retire well before 65, and it runs short. Put in your own numbers below to see your answer.
Change anything — the answer updates as you type.
ASSUMPTIONS5% return · 3% infl · to 95
How long will $500K last?
How long the money lasts comes down to one thing: how much you take out each year. Here's how long $500K lasts on its own — before Social Security — if it earns about 1.9% a year after inflation:
| If you spend | That's | Money lasts |
|---|---|---|
| $15,000/yr | 3% a year | 50+ yrs |
| $20,000/yryour plan | 4% a year | 34 yrs |
| $25,000/yr | 5% a year | 25 yrs |
This is your savings alone — Social Security makes it last even longer. Spend less and it can last for good; spend more and it runs out faster.
One more thing the numbers can't show: where you live. The same $500K goes much further in the Midwest or South than in an expensive coastal city. If you're open to moving, your money effectively stretches further.
The 6 things that decide the answer
Whether $500K is “enough” depends on your life, not a magic number. These six things move the answer most — the calculator handles the first four.
1 · How much you spend. By far the biggest factor. A $45,000 life and a $75,000 life are the difference between the money lasting for good and running out in your 80s.
2 · When you retire. Every year earlier is a year more of spending and a year less of growth — plus a longer wait for Social Security and Medicare.
3 · Social Security. A paycheck for life that rises with inflation. Waiting until 70 instead of 62 makes it over 75% bigger — and every dollar it pays is one you don't pull from savings.
4 · Health insurance before 65. Retire early and you buy your own until Medicare starts — often $1,000+ a month per person. It's the most-forgotten cost; add it to your spending.
5 · Bad timing. A market drop in your first few retired years hurts far more than one later, because you're selling while prices are low. Keep some cash and stay flexible.
6 · Taxes. A pre-tax million isn't a spendable million — money pulled from a 401(k) is taxed as income. This tool uses pre-tax, today's dollars, so treat the result as a starting point.
Is $500K the right number for you?
$500K is a real retirement — but a lean one. The math only works because Social Security does the heavy lifting: on a $40,000 budget your benefit can cover well over half of it, and the portfolio just tops up the rest.
The levers that make it work are spending less and where you live. The same $500K stretches dramatically further in a low-cost town than a coastal city — and a deliberately leaner target is exactly the Lean FIRE idea. If you can keep some part-time income, Coast and Barista FIRE take the pressure off.
Retiring before 65 is the hard part: you wait years for Social Security and buy your own health insurance until Medicare. With $500K that gap is the thing most likely to break the plan — keep spending lean and bridge it on purpose. Change the spending field above and watch how fast the verdict moves.
$500K, common questions
Is $500K enough to retire at 65?
Is $500K enough to retire at 62?
Is $500K enough to retire at 55?
How long will $500K last in retirement?
Can I live off the interest of $500K?
Methodology & assumptions
This isn't a rule of thumb — it's a year-by-year simulation. Each year it subtracts what you spend (minus Social Security), grows what's left, and checks whether the money reaches your planning age. The defaults are deliberately cautious:
- 5% nominal return — a retiree's de-risked mix of stocks and bonds, not an all-equity portfolio.
- 3% inflation — so every figure stays in today's dollars (about 1.9% real).
- Age 95 planning horizon — plan long; outliving the money is the costly error.
- 4% withdrawal rate — the Trinity Study baseline, used for the 4%-rule option and the longevity table. The engine itself depletes year by year rather than assuming a flat draw.
- Social Security is treated as an inflation-adjusted income stream from its start age — get your real estimate from ssa.gov. All figures are pre-tax and in today's dollars.
Full method, sources, and edge cases: FIRE Projection methodology →
Educational, not financial advice. Markets don't deliver a steady return, sequence-of-returns risk is real, and taxes depend on your accounts and state. Use this to build intuition and frame the question — not as a plan to act on without advice tailored to your situation.
Once you know the number, track it.
This page answers the question once, on paper. The app keeps the answer alive: log your accounts, track your net worth toward your target, and watch the gap close month by month. It doesn't model drawdown or Social Security — that's what this calculator is for.
- Net worth over time — every account in one trend line.
- Your number, tracked — set a target and watch the gap close.
- Snapshots & history — see the direction, not just today.
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