Can I retire at 62?

A plan that clears the bar

The starting numbers: 50 today, $700,000 invested, $30,000 saved a year, and $45,000 a year of spending from savings once retired. Twelve more years of saving brings the middle of the range to about $1.8 million by 62, and the money lasts to 100 in roughly 80% of the 1,000 simulated histories — right at the threshold the calculator uses.

The plan is not lavish and it is not fragile. It is the ordinary result of saving steadily through your fifties. But a plan sitting at the line has no slack: push spending to $50,000 a year and it falls to about 75%; stop at 60 instead of 62 and it falls to about 71%. Both are recoverable, and both are worth seeing before you commit to a date.

Try your own numbers

Why the spending number does the most work here

This calculator does not model Social Security at all. The spending figure is what you draw from savings on top of whatever Social Security pays you. At 62 that assumption becomes very concrete, because 62 is the earliest age you can claim — and claiming then instead of at a full retirement age of 67 permanently reduces the monthly check by roughly 30%.

So the $45,000 in the plan above is not a whole retirement budget. If Social Security covers, say, $18,000 a year after an early claim, the plan describes a household spending around $63,000. Get that split wrong and every number downstream is wrong too, which is why it is worth pulling your own benefit estimate from ssa.gov before trusting any projection, including this one.

The three years before Medicare

Retiring at 62 leaves a three-year gap before Medicare at 65. That is far shorter than an early retiree's, but it is not free: marketplace premiums for a couple in their early sixties are among the highest in the individual market, and they belong inside your spending figure, because the tool has no separate line for them. If you are covering a spouse as well, price the policy before you set that figure — it is frequently the largest single line in an early-sixties budget.

It also ignores taxes, which matter more at 62 than most people expect. Withdrawals from a traditional 401(k) or IRA count as ordinary income, and that income can make part of your Social Security benefit taxable as well. None of that is modeled here. Use the calculator to see whether the size of the pot works, and get real advice about how to draw from it.

Questions people ask

Can I retire at 62 and live on Social Security alone?

Rarely. The average retired-worker benefit runs a little over $20,000 a year, and claiming at 62 reduces it further. Most people retiring at 62 need savings to cover the difference between that benefit and their actual spending, which is exactly the figure this calculator asks for.

How much do I need to retire at 62?

If you are already 62 and holding the money, about $1.32 million funds $45,000 a year to 80% confidence through age 100. The plan on this page is likely to arrive with more than that by 62, and it still reads 80% because twelve years of saving could land below the likely case. If Social Security covers more of your budget, the savings you need falls quickly — lower the spending input and watch the headline move.

Should I claim Social Security at 62?

Claiming early gives you money sooner but permanently smaller checks; waiting until 70 gives the largest. The right answer depends on your health, your other income and whether you are married. This calculator does not model the choice, so decide it separately.

Does retiring at 62 reduce my Social Security benefit?

It can, in two ways. Claiming early cuts the check by about 30% if your full retirement age is 67, and stopping work early may leave you with fewer high-earning years among the 35 the benefit formula uses. Check your own numbers on your Social Security statement.

Keep exploring

• How much do I need to retire at 62?
• Retire at 62 with $1.5 million
• Can I retire at 60?
• Can I retire with $500,000?
• How this calculator works