Can I retire at 60 with $500,000 as a single person?

A single person retiring at 60 with $500,000 has 7 years until a full Social Security check at 67: a short bridge, but the choices in it are hard to undo. Claiming at 62 makes the check 30% smaller for life; waiting means savings carry 7 years alone. For this household, waiting comes out ahead of claiming at 62 in the simulation.

What 10,000 simulated retirements say

Your 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 $500,000 supports $1,670 a month from the portfolio. Add the $2,071 monthly Social Security we assume for you and the budget comes to $3,740. But benefits don't start until 67, so for the first 7 years the portfolio pays the whole $3,740 on its own. Simulated, that budget lasts to 95 in 48% of futures. The rule overstates what's safe for this household; the 90%-odds budget is $2,950.

How the money holds up over time

Spending $2,950 a month, the median simulated household still holds $586K at 85 (in today's dollars). In an unlucky future — the 10th percentile — it's down to $110K, and in a lucky one (90th percentile) it's $1.73M. Among the futures where the money lasts, the typical balance left at 95 is $862K — the cushion that a 90% target buys, more than the $500,000 you started with.

Push spending to $3,250 a month and about 22% of simulated futures run dry before 95. When that happens, the median age the money runs out is 85, and the earliest tenth of those failures arrive by 76. These are late failures, after decades of the plan working, when Social Security would be the only income left.

What moves the odds

Holding spending at $2,950 a month and changing one thing at a time, the biggest improvement comes from delaying Social Security to 70, which moves the odds from 92% to 95%. Delay pays because savings can carry three more years, and the 24% larger check then covers more of the budget for life, which matters most in the long-lived futures. The serious risk is a 22% benefit cut from 2032: the odds fall to 76%, a drop large enough to plan around explicitly.

Our read

A seven-year bridge you can afford

Seven years from retirement to Social Security at 67, and $500,000 is enough to carry them; claiming at 70 even improves the odds at $2,950 a month, to 95%. For a single person that delay is the cheapest longevity insurance available: a larger, inflation-adjusted check that lasts as long as you do.

Your exposure is policy. The 2032 cut drops the odds to 76%. You'd be 66 when it hits, a year before your first check in this model, so it would shape your benefits from the start rather than shrink a check you already rely on.

Penalty-free access from 59½ leaves taxes as the main planning job. The median balance at 75 is $462K, and the fifteen years before RMDs are when converting some of it costs least. For a bigger budget, stopping at 62 supports $3,150, and $750,000 at 60 supports $3,700.

One benefit, one plan

No spousal or survivor benefit backs this plan up: your $2,071 check is the only income that can't run out. From 67 it covers 70% of $2,950; savings carry the rest for life. There's no partner to share two other costs with, either: the Administration for Community Living estimates almost 70% of people turning 65 will need some long-term care, which this simulation doesn't model, and the single-filer IRMAA surcharge applies above $109,000 of MAGI, half the joint level.

Sources: ACL — how much care will you need?

Your timeline from age 60

1. 62

   Earliest Social Security claim

   $1,450 a month for life (70% of $2,071). It cuts the odds at $2,950 to 84%.

   Source: ssa.gov
2. 65

   Medicare

   5 years of individual coverage: COBRA for up to 18 months, then a marketplace plan whose subsidy depends on your income, not your savings.

   Source: healthcare.gov
3. 66

   2032: projected trust-fund depletion

   About 78% of scheduled benefits payable without action from Congress (2026 Trustees Report): $456 a month less. Odds at $2,950: 76%.

   Source: ssa.gov
4. 67

   Full retirement age (our assumption)

   $2,071 a month, 7 years after you stop working: 70% of $2,950.

   Source: ssa.gov
5. 70

   Maximum Social Security

   $2,568 a month (124%). Waiting raises the odds at $2,950 to 95%.

   Source: ssa.gov
6. 75

   Required minimum distributions

   Born 1966, so RMDs start at 75 under SECURE 2.0, on a median $462K. From 63 on, conversion income counts toward Medicare's IRMAA surcharge, which applies above $109,000 of single MAGI.

   Source: irs.gov

How we ran these numbers

• You, 60, retiring in 2026 with $500,000 invested (home equity not counted) and no further contributions. Social Security of $2,071 a month at full retirement age, SSA's January 2026 average retired-worker benefit, 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.

Benefit figures: SSA 2026 COLA fact sheet.

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