When Should You Retire? The Ages That Matter Most

There is no single right age to retire. There is a right age for your numbers, and a handful of birthdays that change those numbers. Knowing them makes the decision much simpler.

First: when can your money last?

Before any birthday, answer one question: if you stopped working at a given age, would your savings plus income last for life? The how long will my money last calculator answers it in seconds. Try your current savings with the withdrawal you’d need, then move the age.

The ages that change the math

Age	What changes
55	Rule of 55: penalty-free withdrawals from your current employer’s 401(k) if you leave that year or later
59½	10% early-withdrawal penalty ends on 401(k)s and IRAs
62	Earliest Social Security retirement benefit, permanently reduced
65	Medicare eligibility
67	Full retirement age for anyone born in 1960 or later
70	Social Security stops growing; maximum benefit
73 or 75	Required minimum distributions begin, depending on birth year

For people born in 1960 or later, each year you wait changes your check for life:

Claiming age	Share of full benefit
62	70%
63	75%
64	80%
65	86.7%
66	93.3%
67	100%
68	108%
69	116%
70	124%

Retiring and claiming are separate decisions. The Social Security break-even calculator shows when waiting pays off for you. Plenty of people stop working at 62 and live on savings until 67 or 70 to lock in a bigger, inflation-adjusted check.

Health insurance before 65

Retiring before 65 means paying for coverage yourself, usually through COBRA and then the ACA marketplace. That cost often decides whether 62 or 65 is the better date.

Signs you’re ready

Your savings cover your spending gap at a withdrawal rate of 4% or less.
You know which account pays for each year until Social Security starts.
Your plan survives most simulated markets in the Monte Carlo calculator.
You have something you’re retiring to, not just from.

If you’re close but not there, two more working years do double duty: two more years of saving and two fewer years of withdrawals.

Run your own numbers

Your money lasts to age 87

22 years, 3 months of $60,000 withdrawals, adjusted for inflation every year.

Withdrawal rate: 6%
Lasts forever at or below: $28,302
Runs out after: 22 years, 3 months

What would change your result

To make it last to age 95, keep withdrawals at or below $49,017 a year.
Withdraw 10% less ($54,000) and it lasts to 90.
If Social Security or a pension covers $10,000 of that spending, it lasts to 94.

What-ifs worked out from your own numbers. Not personal financial advice.

Portfolio

Using a 2.91% real return. All amounts in today's dollars.

Year-by-year table

Age	Portfolio	Withdrawn so far
65	$1,000,000	$0
66	$967,379	$60,000
67	$933,807	$120,000
68	$899,258	$180,000
69	$863,702	$240,000
70	$827,111	$300,000
71	$789,454	$360,000
72	$750,700	$420,000
73	$710,818	$480,000
74	$669,774	$540,000
75	$627,534	$600,000
76	$584,064	$660,000
77	$539,328	$720,000
78	$493,289	$780,000
79	$445,909	$840,000
80	$397,149	$900,000
81	$346,969	$960,000
82	$295,328	$1,020,000
83	$242,182	$1,080,000
84	$187,488	$1,140,000
85	$131,201	$1,200,000
86	$73,275	$1,260,000
87	$13,662	$1,320,000
88	$0	$1,333,662

Quick answers

What is the best age to retire?

The earliest age at which your savings, Social Security and any pension can cover your spending for the rest of your life, with a margin for bad markets. For many people that lands between 62 and 67, but it can be far earlier.

Is it better to claim Social Security at 62 or 70?

Claiming at 70 pays about 77% more per month than claiming at 62 for people born in 1960 or later. Waiting usually pays off if you expect to live past your early 80s and can cover the years in between.

At what age do I have to take money out of my retirement accounts?

Required minimum distributions start at 73 for people born from 1951 to 1959, and at 75 for people born in 1960 or later. Roth IRAs and, since 2024, Roth 401(k)s have no required distributions for the original owner.