Can I retire at 60 with $250,000 as a couple?

For a couple retiring at 60 with $250,000, the bridge to full benefits at 67 is 7 years, with two claims to time. A common structure has the lower earner claim early while the higher earner waits, because the larger check becomes the survivor's. Here, though, both of you delaying to 70 lowers the odds at the 90%-confidence budget, so any delay should be the higher earner's alone and sized to what savings can carry.

What 10,000 simulated retirements say

Your household's odds of lasting to 95 at each all-in monthly budget, in today's dollars. See how we ran these numbers.

The 4% rule versus the simulation

The 4% rule says $250,000 supports $830 a month from the portfolio. Add the $3,208 monthly Social Security we assume for the two of you and the budget comes to $4,040. But benefits don't start until 67, so for the first 7 years the portfolio pays the whole $4,040 on its own. Simulated, that budget lasts to 95 in 1% of futures. The rule overstates what's safe for this household; the 90%-odds budget is $2,750.

Notice that $2,750 is less than the $3,208 a month Social Security pays from 67. The limit here is the 7-year bridge, not the decades after it: these numbers hold spending flat for life, so a plan that spends less before 67 and more once benefits start can support a higher lifetime budget than this table shows.

How the money holds up over time

Spending $2,750 a month, the median simulated household still holds $160K at 85 (in today's dollars). In an unlucky future — the 10th percentile — it's down to $3K, and in a lucky one (90th percentile) it's $534K. Among the futures where the money lasts, the typical balance left at 95 is $284K — the cushion that a 90% target buys, more than the $250,000 you started with.

Push spending to $3,100 a month and about 24% of simulated futures run dry before 95. When that happens, the median age the money runs out is 66, and the earliest tenth of those failures arrive by 65. That falls inside the wait for benefits at 67; the emergency valve would be claiming early, at a permanently reduced check.

What moves the odds

Holding spending at $2,750 a month and changing one thing at a time, the biggest improvement comes from a more conservative 30%-stock mix, which moves the odds from 91% to 95%. A calmer mix helps because so much of the budget is withdrawn in the 7 years before benefits, when a market drop does the most damage. The serious risk is both of you delaying to 70: the odds fall to 41%, a drop large enough to plan around explicitly.

Our read

Claim early, or the bridge breaks

This couple's numbers swing harder on claiming age than almost any other: at $2,750 a month, both claiming at 62 gives 94%, while both waiting to 70 gives 41%. Waiting means ten years of the full budget from $250,000, which the portfolio can't reliably fund.

The 2032 cut is the other big risk (64%), because combined benefits of $3,208 would cover most of the budget. A practical shape for this household: the lower earner claims at 62 to shorten the bridge, the higher earner claims at full retirement age if savings allow, and what remains of the portfolio becomes a buffer for health costs before 65.

Coverage before Medicare is five years for both of you, and marketplace subsidies follow your combined income, not your $250,000. A household living on early Social Security and modest withdrawals may qualify for meaningful help. If either of you can keep earning to 62, the 90%-odds budget rises to $3,350.

If one of you is left

We assume both of you reach 95. At the first death, the survivor keeps the larger check and the $1,137 one stops, a 35% cut to household benefits. At $2,750 a month, the $2,071 left covers 75% of spending instead of all of it; savings fill the gap. From the year after, a widow or widower without a dependent child files as single: narrower brackets, and the Medicare surcharge (IRMAA) above $109,000 of MAGI rather than $218,000.

Sources: SSA — survivor benefit amounts · IRS Publication 501 — filing status

Your timeline from age 60

1. 62

   Earliest Social Security claim

   $2,246 a month for life (70% of $3,208). It lifts the odds at $2,750 to 94%.

   Source: ssa.gov
2. 65

   Medicare

   5 years of coverage for two: COBRA for up to 18 months, then marketplace plans whose subsidies depend on your combined income.

   Source: healthcare.gov
3. 66

   2032: projected trust-fund depletion

   About 78% of scheduled benefits payable without action from Congress (2026 Trustees Report): $706 a month less. Odds at $2,750: 64%.

   Source: ssa.gov
4. 67

   Full retirement age (our assumption)

   $3,208 a month combined, 7 years after you stop working: more than the $2,750 budget.

   Source: ssa.gov
5. 70

   Maximum Social Security

   $3,978 a month combined (124%). Waiting lowers the odds at $2,750 to 41%.

   Source: ssa.gov
6. 75

   Required minimum distributions

   Born 1966, so RMDs start at 75 under SECURE 2.0, on a median $105K. From 63 on, conversion income counts toward Medicare's IRMAA surcharge, which applies above $218,000 of joint MAGI.

   Source: irs.gov

How we ran these numbers

• Both spouses, 60, retiring in 2026 with $250,000 invested (home equity not counted) and no further contributions. Social Security of $2,071 + $1,137 a month at full retirement age, SSA's January 2026 average for an aged couple, claimed at 67 and indexed to inflation.
• 60/35/5 stocks, bonds and cash; spending flat in today's dollars, taxes and health insurance included; success means lasting to 95 with both alive.

Benefit figures: SSA 2026 COLA fact sheet.

The methodology page documents every assumption and data source. Your own numbers will differ — run them below.