Living on Social Security Alone? Here’s the Playbook That Makes $2,086 a Month Work

You’ll often hear that if you don’t save for retirement or have income outside of Social Security, you’re pretty much guaranteed to struggle financially. But the reality is that plenty of people reach retirement age with no savings to their name.

A fairly recent AARP study found that 20% of Americans ages 50 and over have no retirement savings whatsoever. And if you’re about to retire and don’t have a nest egg, you may end up having to live on Social Security alone.

Is that doable? Technically, yes. But you may have to embrace frugality to somewhat of an extreme.

How far the average monthly Social Security check might go

The average monthly Social Security benefit for retirees today is $2,086. Granted, that amount is likely to increase in 2027 thanks to an upcoming cost-of-living adjustment that’s expected to be more generous than the 2.8% raise seniors got earlier this year.

But currently, living on Social Security alone means having to be extremely careful with spending. There’s just no getting around that. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t doable.

Let’s say you have a paid-off home that’s not so expensive to maintain coupled with a paid-off car. That means you might spend:

• $600 a month on property taxes, insurance, and upkeep
• $250 a month on auto insurance and transportation costs
• $202.90 a month on Medicare, which is the standard monthly premium for Part B

All of that comes to about $1,053 per month, which leaves you with $1,033 a month to cover your remaining expenses.

Now, let’s say your remaining expenses look like the following:

• Utilities – $300 a month
• Groceries – $500 a month
• Medication – $100 a month
• Cell phone service – $50 a month
• Streaming service – $25 per month
• Personal care items and clothing – $50 per month

In that case, you’re right about at that remaining $1,033, which means living on Social Security alone might work for you.

But notice that a setup like this leaves you with no room for spending on entertainment except from one streaming service and no room for unplanned bills. It also assumes a $0 premium Medicare plan (which isn’t a pipe dream, since many do exist) and generally low costs all around.

For example, it’s possible to live someplace where property taxes are under $200 a month. But in many parts of the country, that’s just not doable, which would make living on the average Social Security benefit today even harder.

Do your best to build retirement savings

While it may be technically possible to retire on just Social Security, you could end up having to live more frugally than you want to. And you may not have any wiggle room in your budget for surprise bills like home or car repairs.

So instead of planning to retire on Social Security alone, make an effort to build savings. You don’t have to aim for a $1 million nest egg. But contributing $40 or $50 a month to a retirement savings plan could go a long way over time, especially if you invest that money for added growth.

Even if you only manage to build enough savings to supplement your retirement income by $200 a month, it could make a world of a difference if your primary income source is Social Security.

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