Why income is the only thing that matters to millions of US retirees — even when they have $2M or more saved up

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Most retirement planning is hyper-fixated on hitting a magic number for savings. But there's recent data to suggest that once seniors actually retire, they shift their focus to income rather than savings.

In other words, the so-called magic number could be irrelevant when you consider real-world behavior.

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Conventional wisdom is that you need a nest egg large enough to satisfy the 4% rule. For the average American adult, that magic number seems to be $1.46 million in 2026, according to Northwestern Mutual (1).

In other words, millions of people expect to live off withdrawing 4% or so from a portfolio worth well over seven figures. Using this rule, a $1.46 million portfolio would give you $58,400 per year plus Social Security — provided you actually draw down on it.