Can I retire at 62 with $5 million?

The short answer

$5 million at age 62 supports about $175,000 per year before tax, $14,583 a month, using a 3.5% withdrawal rate across a 33-year retirement through age 95. Set aside roughly $27,000 for healthcare before Medicare and the sustainable figure drops to $174,055.

Check it against your actual spending

The number above assumes average behaviour. Yours is the one that matters.

That is a 0.00% withdrawal rate on $5 million.

At 3.0% (conservative) $150,000/yr
At 3.5% $175,000/yr
At 4.0% (the "4% rule") $200,000/yr

Verdict

Workable

$174,055 a year of headroom.

Sustainable $174,055/yr
You want $0/yr
Portfolio needed $27K

Free, 60 seconds, no signup

What actually decides it at 62

The withdrawal rate is the easy part. These are the constraints specific to retiring at this age.

You need 3 years of health coverage before Medicare

Medicare starts at 65. Retiring at 62 means covering yourself for 3 years first: through an ACA marketplace plan, COBRA or a spouse's employer plan. At roughly $9,000 per person per year, that's about $27,000 you should treat as spoken for. It is the single most underestimated line item in early retirement.

Planning an early exit

Claiming now locks in a permanently reduced benefit

At 62 you can claim, but you would take a permanent reduction against your full benefit at 67. Every year you delay adds roughly 7-8%, and delaying past 67 adds about 8% a year until 70. Spending down the portfolio to delay Social Security is often the higher-value trade, because the larger benefit is inflation-adjusted and lasts as long as you do.

Timing your claim

A 33-year retirement changes the math

Planning through 95 means this portfolio has to last 33 years. The 4% rule was built on 30-year horizons, so we use 3.5% here instead. That single adjustment is the difference between $200,000 and $175,000 of sustainable annual spending, and it is why generic 4% answers mislead people retiring early.

How the rate is derived

Common questions

Can you retire at 62 with $5 million?

$5 million at age 62 supports roughly $175,000 per year before tax, using a 3.5% withdrawal rate over a 33-year retirement. Whether that is enough depends on your actual spending, and on covering roughly $27,000 of healthcare before Medicare at 65.

How much can you withdraw per year from $5 million?

At a 3.5% rate, $5 million produces about $175,000 a year, or $14,583 a month. At a flat 4% it would be $200,000, and at a conservative 3% it would be $150,000. The rate matters more than most people expect over a 33-year horizon.

What order should you withdraw from at 62?

At 62 the 10% early-withdrawal penalty no longer applies, so the question becomes tax efficiency: generally taxable accounts first, then tax-deferred, then Roth, while watching for the bracket and IRMAA thresholds that a large traditional balance can push you into.

Assumptions on this page. Spending figures are pre-tax and in today's dollars, modelled through age 95 (33 years). The 3.5% rate is scaled to that horizon rather than fixed at 4%, because the 4% rule was derived from 30-year retirements. Social Security, pensions and other income are excluded, including them raises what this portfolio can support. Healthcare before Medicare is estimated at $9,000 per person per year. These are planning estimates, not advice; run your own numbers and read the model's limitations.

Related: Retirement Number Calculator, 4% Rule, When can I retire?, All scenarios.