Can I retire at 65 with $2.5 million?

The short answer

$2.5 million at age 65 supports about $93,750 per year before tax, $7,813 a month, using a 3.75% withdrawal rate across a 30-year retirement through age 95.

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 $2.5 million.

At 3.0% (conservative) $75,000/yr
At 3.5% $87,500/yr
At 4.0% (the "4% rule") $100,000/yr

Verdict

Workable

$93,750 a year of headroom.

Sustainable $93,750/yr
You want $0/yr
Portfolio needed $0

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What actually decides it at 65

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

Claiming now locks in a permanently reduced benefit

At 65 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 30-year retirement changes the math

Planning through 95 means this portfolio has to last 30 years. The 4% rule was built on 30-year horizons, so we use 3.75% here instead. That single adjustment is the difference between $100,000 and $93,750 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 65 with $2.5 million?

$2.5 million at age 65 supports roughly $93,750 per year before tax, using a 3.75% withdrawal rate over a 30-year retirement. Whether that is enough depends on your actual spending, and on how you sequence withdrawals against Social Security.

How much can you withdraw per year from $2.5 million?

At a 3.75% rate, $2.5 million produces about $93,750 a year, or $7,813 a month. At a flat 4% it would be $100,000, and at a conservative 3% it would be $75,000. The rate matters more than most people expect over a 30-year horizon.

What order should you withdraw from at 65?

At 65 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 (30 years). The 3.75% 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.