My wife retired 2 years ago and I’m still working — is our $12 million net worth enough for me to join her in retirement?

How much do you need invested before you can comfortably stop working? It is one of the most common questions among older Americans, and a 54-year-old Redditor in the fatFIRE community is grappling with it right now. His 49-year-old wife called it quits 2.5 years ago, and he is wondering whether he can follow her. According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the average retirement age in 2024 was 64.6 for men and 62.6 for women, which means leaving the workforce at 54 would put this Redditor a full decade ahead of the typical male timeline.

To answer the question, he needs to weigh what he has saved and invested against what his family actually spends, then decide whether those assets can carry them both through what could be a very long retirement.

Running the numbers to see if retirement is in the cards

The Redditor’s financial picture is detailed and, by most measures, impressive:

• Net worth of $11.8 million
• Asset breakdown: $1.18 million in stocks, $10.4 million in property equity (including $6.1 million in rental properties, $0.95 million in land, and a primary home worth $3.3 million), plus $300K in cash
• Roughly $230K in annual cash flow from rental properties after all costs
• Active income fluctuating between $300K and $500K per year
• Annual household expenses of approximately $200,000, not counting taxes

That rental cash flow figure is the key number. At $230K per year after expenses, the passive income from his properties already covers the $200K spending baseline, with room to spare. He does not necessarily need to sell assets or draw down a portfolio to cover day-to-day costs. He also mentioned the possibility of selling his $3.3 million primary home once the kids leave for college, in roughly seven more years, which would free up a substantial additional pool of investable capital.

It is also worth applying the standard retirement planning benchmark to stress-test the picture. The traditional 4% rule holds that withdrawing 4% of a balanced portfolio annually, adjusted for inflation, should sustain a 30-year retirement. Bill Bengen, the rule’s originator, now puts the worst-case safe withdrawal rate at 4.7% for a diversified portfolio over 30 years, a figure he calls the “Universal Safemax.” Morningstar’s December 2025 State of Retirement Income report takes a more conservative forward-looking view, placing the 2026 safe withdrawal rate at 3.9% for portfolios with 30% to 50% in equities. At a 4% withdrawal rate on liquid assets alone, the Redditor’s $1.18 million stock portfolio would support only around $47,000 per year in withdrawals. That math misses the larger point: the rental cash flow is doing most of the heavy lifting, and the investment portfolio plays a supplemental role.

So, can he retire early at 54? The rental income alone makes a compelling case. The bigger wild cards are taxes, health insurance, and the long time horizon.

The health insurance gap is a real cost, not a footnote

Retiring at 54 means going 11 years without Medicare, which does not kick in until age 65. That gap is one of the most underestimated costs of early retirement, and recent policy changes have made it significantly more expensive. COBRA continues an employer plan for up to 18 months, but the retiree pays the full premium plus a 2% administrative fee. On average, COBRA premiums run $400 to $700 per month per person, and family coverage can exceed $1,500 per month. After 18 months, COBRA expires and the Redditor would need to turn to ACA Marketplace plans.

The enhanced premium tax credits that had kept Marketplace costs lower since 2021 expired on December 31, 2025, and were not renewed for 2026. The House passed a three-year extension on January 8, 2026, by a 230-196 vote, but as of mid-2026 the bill remains stalled in the Senate with no vote scheduled. According to KFF, average net Marketplace premiums more than doubled once the enhanced credits lapsed. For a couple with substantial rental income, the income-based subsidy cliff was already likely to apply under the old rules. Without the enhanced credits, high-income early retirees face full, unsubsidized Marketplace costs for however long they need to bridge the gap to Medicare.

With a large real estate portfolio generating six-figure income, the Redditor’s modified adjusted gross income will likely remain well above any standard subsidy thresholds. That makes health insurance a genuine and costly ongoing line item in retirement, one that a financial advisor can help model carefully before the employment income stops.

Real estate ownership comes with meaningful tax advantages

A good portion of the Redditor’s wealth is concentrated in real estate, and that asset class carries significant tax benefits that can stretch retirement income further. Rental property owners can deduct a range of expenses on their tax return, including mortgage interest, property taxes, operating costs, depreciation, and repairs. For residential rental property, the depreciation deduction is spread over 27.5 years, meaning each year a portion of the property’s cost basis reduces taxable income without any cash outlay. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, permanently restored 100% bonus depreciation for qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025, opening additional near-term deduction opportunities for landlords making improvements or new acquisitions. These benefits can substantially reduce the effective tax rate on rental income, which is a meaningful structural advantage when building a retirement income strategy around a large property portfolio.

A financial advisor can help ease your mind about retirement

The Redditor’s high net worth can make retiring early look like an obvious move, yet having questions and reservations is entirely normal. Trading a steady paycheck for a self-funded retirement backed largely by illiquid property assets involves real complexity, and the stakes are especially high when that retirement could span four decades or more.

Working with a certified financial planner before walking away from employment is usually worth the time and cost. An advisor can map out a withdrawal strategy that coordinates rental cash flow, investment accounts, and a future Social Security claim to minimize taxes across different life stages. They can also stress-test the plan against scenarios like prolonged vacancy in the rental portfolio, a major repair expense, or a stretch of poor stock market returns early in retirement.

In this case, an advisor would also be well-positioned to review the health insurance strategy and model whether income management, including timed Roth conversions or strategic use of cash reserves, could reduce exposure to full-price Marketplace premiums in the pre-Medicare years. With a portfolio this diversified and a retirement timeline this long, professional guidance is less a luxury than a practical necessity.

Editor’s note: The average retirement age figures were updated to the precise 2024 figures from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College: 64.6 for men and 62.6 for women. The health insurance section was updated to reflect that the Senate ACA enhanced premium tax credit extension bill remains stalled as of mid-2026, with no vote yet scheduled. The real estate tax section was updated to attribute the restoration of 100% bonus depreciation to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025.

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