This general rule of thumb refers to how much money you should withdraw from your savings each year in order to maintain an account balance that keeps income flowing throughout your entire retirement. As you can see, to live on $50,000 per year, you would need savings of at least $1.25 million.

Most experts say your retirement income should be about 80% of your final pre-retirement salary. 3 That means if you make $100,000 annually at retirement, you need at least $80,000 per year to have a comfortable lifestyle after leaving the workforce.

If your annual pre-retirement expenses are $50,000, for example, you’d want retirement income of $40,000 if you followed the 80 percent rule of thumb. If you and your spouse will collect $2,000 a month from Social Security, or $24,000 a year, you’d need about $16,000 a year from your savings.

If you start taking Social Security at age 62, rather than waiting until your full retirement age (FRA), you can expect up to a 30% reduction in monthly benefits with lesser reductions as you approach FRA. Waiting to claim your Social Security benefit will result in a higher benefit.

Consider the Average Social Security Payment The average Social Security benefit was $1,543 per month in January 2021. The maximum possible Social Security benefit for someone who retires at full retirement age is $3,148 in 2021.

The maximum monthly Social Security benefit that an individual can receive per month in 2021 is $3,895 for someone who files at age 70. For someone at full retirement age, the maximum amount is $3,113, and for someone aged 62, the maximum amount is $2,324.

It’s not recommended to rely solely on social security benefits in retirement, but it can be done. En español | Social Security was designed to supplement only pensions and retirement savings. But for many, that’s no longer the case.