Personal Finance

I'm in my mid-40s with $2 million and I would love to retire before I'm too old. What are my options?

Maurie Backman

Published: February 27, 2025 11:30 am

I know a lot of people who would be thrilled to retire with $2 million in their 60s. So if you have $2 million by your mid-40s, you can give yourself a pat on the back for being an excellent saver.

That’s the situation this Reddit poster is in. They’ve managed to accumulate $2 million by their mid-40s. And now, they’re wondering what options they have as far as early retirement goes.

I think they’re in a great position to end their career early. But I also think it’s important for them to have a plan and decide exactly what early retirement means.

Keep investing and start narrowing the details down

A person with $2 million saved by their mid-40s could conceivably stop socking money away now for retirement and still end up with a good $7 million or so by their mid-60s simply by leaving their money alone for another 20 years. This assumes they stay invested at a 7% annual return, which is reasonable for that sort of window.

But this poster may not want to wait that long.

In that case, I’d tell the poster they’re not done saving and investing. If they want to retire early — say, in their mid-50s — then that only gives their money another 10 years to grow.

At a 7% return, which is a bit below the stock market’s average, they might grow $2 million into about $4 million in a decade. But whether $4 million is enough for an early retirement is questionable.

That’s why I would tell this poster to narrow down an early retirement age and think about what they want their post-working years to look like. And then, I’d tell them to keep saving and investing until they’re confident they have enough money to meet that goal.

For example, if they want to retire at 55 but live fairly modestly, I’d say keep investing the next 10 years and try to add at least $3,000 a month to their portfolio if possible. At a 7% return, that would bring them to close to $4.5 million, which is a little more padding for a longer retirement.

Then again, if they want early retirement to mean leaving the workforce at 48 or 49, they may not have enough money to pull that off. It depends on their anticipated expenses. But if they’re looking to retire in just a few years, they may not end up with that much more savings than what they have at present.

Talk to a financial advisor

Retiring early is a big deal no matter how much money you have. With $2 million by your mid-40s, you’re off to a great start. But it’s important to get some guidance to make sure you’re not putting your long-term finances at risk.

So to that end, I’d tell this poster, and anyone else in a similar boat, to consult a financial advisor. A qualified advisor can run the numbers and offer guidance that lends to an early retirement. An advisor can also help set up a portfolio that’s able to last during a retirement that may be longer than average.