Can You Afford to Retire? A Simple Self-Assessment for Upstate SC Residents

It's the question underneath every other question about retirement.

Not 'when should I take Social Security?' Not 'should I buy an annuity?' Not 'what should my investment allocation be?' Those are all important questions — and we spend a lot of time on them at Common Sense Retirement Planning.

But underneath all of them is the foundational question that most people are really asking: Can I afford to retire?

Folks, in all the years we've been working with pre-retirees across Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Travelers Rest, and Clemson, that question keeps more people up at night than almost anything else. And here's the truth: most people don't have a great answer because they've never sat down and done the math in a systematic way.

Today I want to give you a real, practical self-assessment you can work through — one that will give you a much clearer picture of where you stand. And where the numbers reveal gaps, I'll tell you what we do to address them.

Step 1: Know Your Number — What Will You Spend in Retirement?

Everything starts here. You cannot answer the affordability question without first knowing how much retirement costs for you — not generically, but specifically.

Take out a piece of paper and create two columns. On the left, write 'Essentials.' On the right, write 'Lifestyle.'

Essentials are non-negotiables — what you need every month to maintain your basic life:

• Housing (mortgage payment, or taxes/insurance/maintenance if paid off)
• Utilities (electric, water, internet, phone)
• Groceries and household items
• Transportation (car payment, gas, insurance)
• Health insurance premiums and medication costs
• Any debt payments (car loans, credit cards — we'll address this)

Lifestyle is the spending that makes retirement enjoyable — the reason you worked so hard:

• Travel and vacations
• Dining out and entertainment
• Golf, hobbies, club membership
• Helping grandchildren with education or gifts
• Charitable giving beyond your basic tithe
• Home updates and improvements

Add those two columns up. That is your monthly retirement spending target. Multiply by 12 to get your annual number.

Now inflation-proof it. Costs in the Upstate — like everywhere — have been rising. A reasonable planning assumption is 2.5-3% annual inflation^¹. At 2.5% inflation, your spending roughly double every 28 years. A $7,000/month budget at 63 becomes closer to $11,000/month by age 83.

Step 2: Inventory Your Guaranteed Income Sources in Your Retirement Plan

Now let's look at what will come in every month — money you can count on regardless of market conditions.

Social Security: Log in to ssa.gov to check your projected benefit at your full retirement age, at 62, and at 70. If you're married, check your spouse's benefit as well. Don't guess — look it up. The numbers may surprise you in both directions.

Pension income: If you worked at BMW, Michelin, Fluor, or another employer with a defined benefit pension, what is your monthly benefit at your planned retirement date? What is your survivor benefit option?

Any other guaranteed income: Rental income, structured settlements, any other predictable income stream that doesn't depend on investment performance.

Add these up. That is your guaranteed income baseline. Compare it to your Essential spending number from Step 1. The gap between them is what we call your income gap — the amount you need to generate from your savings and investments every month.

Step 3: Calculate How Much Your Savings Needs to Cover

Your income gap tells you how hard your investments need to work. Here's a simplified way to think about it:

If your income gap is $2,000/month ($24,000/year), a traditional 4% withdrawal rate suggests you need $600,000 in investable assets to cover it — because $600,000 × 4% = $24,000.

But here's the important caveat: the 4% rule was developed for a 30-year retirement horizon, and even its creator, William Bengen, has noted it may need adjustment for longer retirements^². For someone retiring at 60, a 3-3.5% withdrawal rate may be more prudent — meaning you'd need $685,000-$800,000 to cover that same $2,000 monthly gap.

Take your income gap and divide it by 3%, 3.5%, or 4% (use 3% if you're retiring early or have family longevity). That gives you a rough savings target.

Step 4: The Healthcare Reality Check

This step trips up more Upstate retirees than almost anything else. Before you declare yourself retirement-ready, honestly answer these questions:

Are you under 65? If you're retiring at 62, 63, or 64, you have a gap before Medicare. Individual health insurance in South Carolina for a 62-year-old can run $600-$1,200/month or more, depending on plan and income^³. Has your spending calculation accounted for that?

Have you estimated your Medicare costs? Medicare isn't free. Part B premiums, supplemental (Medigap) coverage, and Part D drug coverage can easily add up to $400-$600 per person per month — more if IRMAA surcharges apply at higher income levels.

Do you have a long-term care plan? This is the category most likely to derail an otherwise solid retirement plan. In the Greenville and Spartanburg area, assisted living runs roughly $3,500-$5,500 per month; memory care can be $6,000-$10,000+^⁴. Medicare covers very little of this. Does your plan account for a potential multi-year care need?

Step 5: Stress Test Your Financial Plan

Now comes the part most people skip — and it's one of the most valuable things we do for clients in our Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson offices.

Ask yourself these four questions:

1. What happens to my income plan if my spouse passes away first, and one Social Security check stops? Do I still have enough?
2. What happens if the market drops 25-30% in my first three years of retirement, and I'm drawing from my investments? Is my income still secure?
3. What happens if I need significant long-term care for 2-3 years at $7,000/month? Does that bankrupt my plan?
4. Am I accounting for inflation appropriately? Is my plan built to last 25-30 years, not just 10?

If you can answer 'yes, my plan handles all of that' with confidence and specificity, you're in excellent shape. If you're not sure — or if any of those questions reveal a gap — that's valuable information.

What Does the Scorecard for Your Retirement Plan Look Like?

Here's a simplified way to summarize where you stand after working through these steps:

Green Light: Your guaranteed income covers your essentials. Your savings target is met or on track. You have a healthcare bridge plan. You have a long-term care strategy. Your plan survives stress tests. → You may be ready to retire.

Yellow Light: Most pieces are in place but one or two need attention — a healthcare gap, a savings shortfall, an unclear Social Security strategy. → Work with a retirement financial planner to close those gaps. You may be closer than you think.

Red Light: Significant gaps in income coverage, savings shortfall, no healthcare plan, no long-term care strategy. → This doesn't mean retirement is impossible. It means you need a real plan — and likely a different strategy — before you pull the trigger. The good news is that working with the right financial advisor several years before retirement can make an enormous difference.

A Hypothetical Example: The Couple Who Almost Retired Too Early

Let me walk through a scenario I see regularly. Let’s pretend Chris and Donna from Anderson, both 61, came in convinced they were ready to retire. Chris had a pension and they had combined savings of about $720,000.

When we worked through the assessment, their essential spending was $5,400/month. Their guaranteed income (Chris's pension plus combined Social Security at full retirement age) would total about $4,100/month — leaving an income gap of $1,300/month. Their savings could cover that comfortably. Green light on income.

But then we got to healthcare: neither of them had accounted for the four-year gap before Medicare. Individual coverage for both would run approximately $2,200/month combined. That changed the math significantly.

In this scenario, we might help Chris and Donna build a plan that had them retire at 63 instead of 61 — two more years of pension and savings accumulation, plus employer health insurance — and restructured their Social Security timing to maximize lifetime benefits. By 63, the plan may be genuinely solid on every measure.

Two years made the difference between a retirement that worked and one that might not have. And they would arrive at 63 with confidence instead of anxiety.

The Bottom Line: Stop Guessing, Start Planning

The question 'can I afford to retire?' deserves a real answer — not a gut feeling, not an internet calculator, and not a guess. It deserves a comprehensive, personalized analysis that accounts for your income, your expenses, your healthcare, your taxes, your investments, and your goals.

We offer complimentary consultations at our offices in Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson. Whether you're five years away or five months away from retirement, we'd be honored to help you work through this assessment — and to build the plan that gets you to retirement with confidence.

Check out a Related Article:  https://www.csrp.flywheelsites.com/retirement-planning-strategies/

References

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index Historical Data. bls.gov, 2024.

2. Bengen, William P. 'Conserving Client Portfolios During Retirement.' Journal of Financial Planning, 1997.

3. KFF Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2024. kff.org

4. Genworth Cost of Care Survey, South Carolina Data. Genworth Financial, 2023.

Securities and advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through Madison Avenue Securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC and a Registered Investment Advisor. MAS and Phillip Allen Inc. or Common Sense Retirement Planning are not affiliated entities.

The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Common Sense Retirement Planning.

Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. The examples above are hypothetical in nature and intended for illustrative purposes only. Your results will vary. Past performance does not ensure future performance or results.

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