Can you retire at 62 with $800,000?

At a 4% initial withdrawal rate, $800,000 supports about $32,000 a year of portfolio income. Add a typical Social Security benefit — say $22,000/year claimed at 62, or roughly $31,000 waiting until 67 — and gross income lands in the mid-$50,000s to mid-$60,000s. For a household with a paid-off house and moderate spending, that's a workable retirement. For one carrying a mortgage or supporting family, it's tight.

The gap years matter most: between 62 and Social Security, every dollar of spending comes from the portfolio. Retiring at 62 and delaying benefits to 67 means five years of elevated withdrawals — often 6–8% of the portfolio annually — before the rate settles down. That's not automatically wrong (it buys a much larger, inflation-protected benefit for life), but it has to be modeled, not guessed.

• Healthcare before 65: three years of marketplace coverage. Unsubsidized premiums for a 62-year-old commonly run $1,000+/month per person — but because ACA subsidies key off taxable income, a retiree drawing from taxable savings and keeping reported income modest can cut that dramatically. Withdrawal sequencing is a healthcare decision.
• Taxes: if most of the $800k sits in a traditional 401(k)/IRA, every withdrawal is ordinary income. The same balance in a Roth or taxable account funds meaningfully more spending.
• Claiming at 62 by reflex: it permanently reduces your benefit about 30% versus full retirement age. Sometimes it's still right (health, cash-flow necessity) — but for couples it also shrinks the survivor's lifelong benefit.

Run through a Monte Carlo simulation, an $800k-at-62 plan typically shows success rates that swing 15–25 percentage points based on decisions entirely within your control: spending $58,000 vs $66,000, claiming at 62 vs 67, and whether withdrawals are sequenced tax-efficiently. That swing is the real answer to 'can I retire?' — the plan is buildable, and the simulation shows exactly which version of it holds up.