Can you retire at 62 with $1M?

With $1M at age 62, you can safely spend about $45,000/year after tax ($3,750/month) without running out over a ~33-year retirement — about a 4.5% withdrawal rate, a touch above the classic 4% rule, which a shorter horizon like this can support. Whether that's enough comes down to your lifestyle; here's the full picture.

How long $1M lasts at different spending levels

The 4% rule is a starting point, not a guarantee — especially retiring at 62, when the money may need to last 33+ years. Here's what $1M supports, spending from age 62 to 95 at a 6% nominal return and 3% inflation:

Why the answer isn't just $1M × 4%

A back-of-envelope "$1M × 4% = $40,000" overstates what you can safely spend at 62, for two reasons this projection captures:

• Taxes. A dollar in a traditional 401(k) or IRA is taxed as ordinary income on the way out; taxable-brokerage gains are taxed too. Only Roth and cash are tax-free. So the safe spendable figure ($45,000) sits below the headline 4% draw.
• A long horizon. Retiring at 62 can mean 33+ years in retirement. The 4% rule was calibrated to about 30 years — stretch it further and a lower rate (nearer 4.5% here) is what actually survives a bad early market.

The portfolio, year by year

Spending the sustainable $45,000/yr from $1M at age 62, here's how the portfolio holds up in today's dollars (inflation-adjusted, so it reflects real spending power):

Assumptions: single filer, TX (no state income tax), 60% taxable / 30% traditional / 10% Roth split, 6% nominal return, 3% inflation, no Social Security. Add Social Security, a pension, part-time income, or a spouse in the calculator and the safe number rises — often substantially.

Retiring at 62: the Social Security decision and a short bridge to Medicare

Sixty-two is the earliest age you can claim Social Security, and that makes it the central question of retiring now. Claiming immediately locks in a permanently reduced benefit compared with waiting until your full retirement age of about 67, or until 70, where the benefit is largest. If you expect a long life or want the largest possible inflation-protected income later, waiting is often worth it; if health or cash needs press, claiming early is a reasonable trade.

One caution if you plan to keep working: claiming before full retirement age triggers the earnings test, which temporarily withholds benefits once your wages pass an annual threshold. For someone still drawing a paycheck, that can make early claiming far less valuable than it first appears.

Coverage is a shorter bridge here than at younger ages, roughly three years until Medicare at 65. Until then the ACA marketplace is the usual path, and the low-income years before required distributions begin still leave room for measured Roth conversions.

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