They have $3M invested and 2 kids headed to college — retiring at 60 could still be within reach

The mean nett worthy for idiosyncratic successful their 50s successful the United States is $1,364,050, portion the median nett worthy is $180,227, according to Empower (1). The mean is driven up by affluent Americans, portion the median reflects the information that galore radical successful their 50s are inactive acold from rich.

But what if you’re astatine the higher extremity of the scale?

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Say that Joe is 56 and his wife, Anna, is 54, and they person $3 cardinal invested. They besides person 2 kids starting college, but are considering retiring erstwhile Joe turns 60 anyway. They privation to cognize if that’s feasible fixed their concern balance. So, is leaving the workforce an option?

How is the wealth invested?

The specifics of however their wealth is invested substance a full lot.

If Joe and Anna person $3 cardinal successful 401(k) and brokerage accounts, that’s a very antithetic script from having $1 cardinal successful brokerage accounts, a $1.5 cardinal house, and $500,000 invested successful a 529 for college.

If the mates has $3 cardinal successful a status plan, their investments would supply them with an yearly income of $120,000, assuming they travel the 4% rule. If they person $1 cardinal successful liquid investments, they’d person a $40K yearly income.

How overmuch volition the wealth grow?

Joe and Anna inactive person 4 years for their wealth to grow, truthful compound maturation volition bash much enactment for them. Joe and Anna tin besides support contributing to their status accounts until 60.

Because they’re some implicit 55, they tin lend not conscionable the modular $24,500 401(k) publication (2) (as of 2026) but besides catch-up contributions totaling an other $8,000 per year.

If Joe and Anna person their full $3 cardinal invested, and they each lend an other $32,500 implicit the adjacent 4 years, they’ll extremity up with astir $3.88 cardinal by the clip Joe is 60, according to concern calculations (3). That would bring the disposable yearly income from their investments to $155,200 astatine a harmless withdrawal rate.

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What’s the program for college?

Of course, the elephant successful the country is the outgo of assemblage acquisition for their children.

The mean outgo of a four-year nationalist schoolhouse (4) for an in-state pupil was $11,950 successful the 2025-26 schoolhouse year, portion the mean outgo of a backstage nonprofit four-year schoolhouse was $45,000.