Retirement spending, measured: worked cases
Measured as of January 1, 2026 · Last updated September 26, 2026
Rules of thumb answer a question about an average household. These pages answer it for four specific ones. Each household is made up but ordinary, and each is run through ZBee's engine with the app's default assumptions: real tax brackets, required distributions, Social Security timing, and 1,000 simulated markets. Every figure is produced by the same code the app runs, never typed in by hand.
| Household | Savings | Safe yearly spend |
|---|---|---|
| Couple at 65, mostly in an IRA, Social Security at 67 | $1,500,000 | $91,400 |
| Widow at 72 with a survivor benefit | $900,000 | $55,400 |
| Early retiree at 58 with a pension | $1,000,000 | $55,500 |
| Couple at 60, Roth-heavy, retiring at 63 | $1,200,000 | $93,100 |
Safe yearly spend is in today's dollars, after tax, rising with inflation to age 100, and lasts in 90% of the simulated markets. Each page shows the inputs, the first year's tax, and what moves the number: claiming age, retirement age, guardrails, a bequest, and the confidence level.
Why the totals don't line up
The couple with $1.5M and the couple with $1.2M come out close: $91,400 and $93,100 a year. Three things differ besides the balance. The younger couple keeps working and saving for three more years before spending starts. They claim Social Security at 70, which pays more for life. And half their money is in Roth accounts, which are not taxed on the way out, while every dollar that leaves the older couple's IRA is ordinary income. The balance alone is not the measurement; the accounts and dates behind it are.
What these pages are not
They are measurements of four invented households, not advice for anyone. They do not say which claiming age or retirement date is right; they show what each choice is worth in yearly spending, and leave the weighing to the person whose life it is.
Measure your own
ZBee™ runs the same measurement on your real accounts, on your Mac: download ZBee for macOS (Apple silicon, M1 or later) and it is free for 30 days on your own numbers. How the measurement works: how much can you safely spend? and the full methodology.
ZBee is a measurement and planning tool, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Projections are hypothetical estimates that will not match actual results. See the Disclaimer and Terms of Use.