How Much Money Is Needed To Retire At 55

To retire early at 55 and live on investment income of $100,000 a year, you'd need to have $3.45 million invested on the day you leave work.
If you reduced your annual spending target to $65,000, you'd need a starting balance of about $2.2 million in a taxable investment account.
Brian Fry, a certified financial planner at Safe Landing Financial, recommends an asset allocation of 70% stocks and 30% bonds to ensure the account's growth and provide a steady income for decades.
To arrive at these figures, Fry made assumptions about the retiree's investments and tax treatments, which are listed at the end of this article.
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If you want to quit the corporate world 10 or 15 years earlier than most Americans, you'll need a sizable nest egg to draw from.

To find out exactly how much you'd need to invest to retire at 55, we consulted Brian Fry, a certified financial planner and the founder of Safe Landing Financial.

Fry used a Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the starting balance someone would need in a taxable investment account the day they leave work to live on either $100,000 a year or $65,000 a year in dividends (fixed income from bond investments) and capital gains (income from equity investments), and principal, after paying taxes, until age 90.

To run the simulation for a hypothetical retiree, Fry had to make assumptions about the retiree's investments and tax treatments. You can find the full list of assumptions at the end of this post, but in short, he used Right Capital, financial-planning software that used JPMorgan long-term return estimates for investments; assumed a conservative 3% inflation estimate; assumed no state or local taxes; and did not factor in Social Security.

In addition, the investments are assumed to be held in a taxable investment account, not a retirement account like an IRA or a 401(k), since you can't withdraw money from those accounts without a penalty before age 59 1/2.

How much you'd need invested to retire at 55

According to Fry's calculations, an investor who leaves work at age 55 would need $3.45 million in a taxable investment account on the day they retire if they want an annual post-tax income of $100,000.

If the investor reduced their target annual income to $65,000, they would need only $2.2 million invested on the day they retire. If you plan to live on even less or expect to reduce your spending as you age, you'd likely need a smaller lump sum to start.

Further, those who plan to start withdrawing money from their retirement accounts beginning at age 59-and-a-half — less than five years after leaving work — would need an even smaller lump sum in the taxable account.

Fry recommended investing 70% of the lump sum in stocks and 30% in bonds, which is considered a "growth" asset allocation because of the age of the investor. However, he noted that it's important the retiree update their financial plan yearly, or whenever they experience a significant life change.

"Investors tend to be their own worst enemy when experiencing investment losses," Fry said. "If you don't have the time, interest, discipline, and expertise, it's better to work with a fee-only certified financial planner that can tailor your investments to track to your financial plan."

It's worth noting that many early retirees continue to earn income after leaving their 9-to-5. In fact, some who earn passive income through real-estate investing, blogging, or some other monetizable hobby consider themselves financially independent rather than retired, meaning they don't need to earn a steady paycheck to afford their lifestyle.

Fry's simulation also did not factor in potential Social Security income. Americans born in 1960 or later — age 59 or younger in 2019 — can retire with full Social Security benefits at age 67, so long as they've worked at least 10 years. The amount of a person's Social Security benefit is equal to an average of monthly wages for their 35 highest-earning years, adjusted for inflation.

The future of Social Security is uncertain, however, and some financial planners recommend their clients implement a saving and investing strategy to afford retirement without it.

Assumptions used to calculate the starting investment balance for a 55-year-old retiree

Fry said the Monte Carlo simulation has two clear limitations: The outputs are only as good as the inputs, and it does not factor in the behavioral aspects of finance or how investors react to swings in the markets.

Here are the assumptions used in the simulation:

Investments

All investments are in a taxable account.
Used $8,333/month for a $100,000 target annual income and $5,417/month for a $65,000 target annual income.
JPMorgan long-term return estimates used for investments; 3% inflation used for a conservative amount.
Assumed younger investors can take on more risk than older investors.
5% annual portfolio turnover.
$0 capital loss carryover.
No asset-under-management fees included.
Lump sum is invested at the start of simulation as cash with no built-in gains.

Taxes

No state or local/city tax factored in.
Standard deduction taken for a single filer.
No Social Security payments factored in for older investors.
Dividends: 85% are qualified dividends, 15% are non-qualified dividends.
Capital gains: 90% long-term capital gains, 10% short-term capital gains.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act sunset 2025: reflects all updated provisions related to TCJA, including the sunsetting of most individual income-tax provisions in 2025.

Read more:
How much money you need to retire at every age and comfortably live on investment income
How much money you need to retire at 35 and live on investment income alone until 90
How to retire early so you can work, travel, and relax on your own schedule
How to get COBRA health insurance if you lose your job or retire early

Tanza Loudenback

Correspondent, Personal Finance Insider

Tanza is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and former correspondent for Personal Finance Insider. She broke down personal finance news and wrote about taxes, investing, retirement, wealth building, and debt management. She helmed a biweekly newsletter and a column answering reader questions about money. Tanza is the author of two ebooks, A Guide to Financial Planners and "The One-Month Plan to Master your Money." In 2020, Tanza was the editorial lead on Master Your Money, a yearlong original series providing financial tools, advice, and inspiration to millennials. Tanza joined Business Insider in June 2015 and is an alumna of Elon University, where she studied journalism and Italian. She is based in Los Angeles.