Why a $1 Million Goal for Retirement Still Matters

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Shutterstock A million dollars isn't what it used to be, but it's still a lot of money. It's enough to be a life-changing amount of cash, even if it winds up not being enough to completely fund your retirement on its own. On its own, using the 4 percent withdrawal rule as a guide, that cool million should provide you around $40,000 per year in inflation-adjusted income. Still, for typical American retirees, personal savings is just a start: Social Security adds supplemental income -- around $15,600 a year for a typical retiree. Medicare covers a substantial portion of health insurance costs for Americans age 65 or older. Typical retirees pay neither Social Security nor Medicare taxes on their non-wage incomes. If you've paid off your mortgage by the time you retire, your housing costs are a mere fraction of what they normally would be. If your kids are grown and independent, the costs of raising them can vanish. With that total picture in mind, even today, a $1 million nest egg still should provide a great foundation for a comfortable retirement in most of the country. There's More to Retirement Of course, you may want more out of your retirement than what that type of nest egg can provide you. Things like international travel, spoiling the grandkids and/or a summer home up north and a winter home in the Sun Belt can easily chew through the kind of income that size nest egg can provide. In addition, as you get deeper into retirement, you may start needing help managing your home and daily activities, which could add substantially to your costs.