Updated July 1, 2026
$1 million produces about $40,000 a year using the 4% rule, and adding the average Social Security benefit of roughly $23,000 brings total income near $63,000 a year. Whether that reads as comfortable or tight has less to do with the million than with your zip code and your spending habits.
What $1 million actually generates
At a 4% starting withdrawal, year one pays about $40,000, and the rule assumes you raise that figure with inflation every year after. Social Security moves the total more than most people expect. A couple who both claim can push household income past $60,000 to $70,000 a year while the portfolio still draws at the same rate. One check or two. That is the variable people forget to count.
How long will $1 million last?
Spent at 4%, history suggests $1 million lasts 30 years or more in most scenarios. Push harder and the math turns on you. Take $60,000 a year from the portfolio alone, a 6% rate, and the odds of running short inside 30 years climb. Plan for a retirement that could run into your 90s.
Where you live changes the answer
In a low-cost state, $1 million plus Social Security funds a relaxed retirement. In a high-cost coastal metro, the same balance buys a noticeably smaller life, because housing, property taxes, and healthcare all cost more there. The round number is not the variable. Your spending is.
One Social Security check or two
A couple usually has two benefits sitting behind the same $1 million, so the portfolio only has to cover what those two checks miss. A single retiree pays one household's bills with one benefit. Same balance, harder job.
Run your own numbers
The inputs that matter are your spending, your expected Social Security, the age you stop working, and what you have saved so far. The calculator takes those and shows what $1 million supports in your case, and whether it closes the gap or leaves one.
See what your number produces
Enter your own balance and spending to find out if it clears your bar, not just the average one.