🔍 Read the full analysis: What It Costs To Retire Around The World: I Fact-Checked The Viral $2 Million Graphic on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
Get business pricing on monitors, keyboards and dev gear
- Business-only prices and quantity discounts
- Tax-exempt purchasing
- Multiple users, one account, clear invoices
TL;DR
A viral graphic says retirement requires $2 million in the United States and lists lower totals for 17 other countries. Its totals consistently multiply annual costs by 25, but the graphic provides no traceable source or details about household size, housing, taxes or health coverage—and it omits state pensions. The figures cannot be independently verified, and the 25-times rule may understate savings needs for people retiring at 50 or 55.
A viral graphic listing the cost of retirement in 18 countries gives no traceable source for its estimates and omits key assumptions, including household size and state pensions, according to a November 4 fact-check by Thorsten Meyer. Its headline figures—$2 million for the United States and $350,000 for Kenya—use a consistent 25-times calculation, but that arithmetic alone does not establish what retirement actually costs.
The graphic assigns annual retirement costs of $80,000 in the United States, $55,000 in the United Kingdom, $38,000 in Spain, $32,000 in Portugal, $28,000 in Mexico, $22,000 in Costa Rica and $24,000 in Thailand. It then multiplies each annual figure by 25. Meyer found the same pattern in other listed figures, including $15,000 a year and $375,000 total for Indonesia. That is consistent with the 4% rule, a withdrawal approach in which a retiree takes 4% of savings in the first year and adjusts withdrawals for inflation.
But Meyer said he could not identify a study, method note or author behind the annual cost estimates. The graphic does not say whether its figures cover one person or a couple, renters or homeowners, or include taxes, insurance and health care. Those omissions make the estimates difficult to compare and prevent independent verification; they do not, by themselves, prove the figures are false.
One US comparison illustrates the effect of the missing assumptions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that households headed by someone 65 or older spent an average of $64,445 in 2025; those households averaged 1.7 people, and 78% owned their homes. That offers a reference point, but it does not settle what the graphic’s $80,000 represents. Meyer says the amount is plausible for a couple, but high for a single retiree, depending on housing and other costs.
Pensions Change the Savings Estimate
The biggest practical omission is state pension income. The graphic treats its full annual spending estimate as money that must come from savings, although many retirees in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe may receive public pensions. A more useful estimate separates expected spending from other income, then calculates how much savings must cover.
For a US couple both receiving Social Security, the Social Security Administration’s 2027 fact sheet estimates an average combined benefit of $3,355 a month, or $40,260 a year. If the graphic’s $80,000 annual figure applies to that couple, the remaining gap is $39,740. Multiplying that gap by 25 gives about $993,500, rather than $2 million. This is an illustration based on the graphic’s own spending assumption, not a personalized forecast or a validated retirement target.
The same distinction matters to people considering retirement abroad. A lower local cost estimate does not tell a would-be retiree whether they qualify for residency, can access health coverage or will receive a pension. Meyer reports that the Mexican consulate in Las Vegas requires $4,630 a month in income per person for temporary residence—about twice the graphic’s stated annual cost for living in Mexico when expressed monthly. The visa threshold and a household budget measure different things, but both affect whether moving is feasible.
Products Worth Considering
LG UltraGear 34GX90SA-W 34-inch WQHD Curved OLED Gaming Monitor
Apple AirPods Pro 3 Wireless Earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation
EcoFlow Delta 3 Portable Power Station – 1024 Wh, 1800 W
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
How the 25-Times Rule Fits
The 25-times calculation comes from the 4% rule: a retiree withdraws 4% of an initial portfolio in the first year, then adjusts that amount for inflation. The rule is commonly framed around a 30-year retirement. It is not a country-by-country cost-of-living study, and applying it to unsupported annual spending estimates does not make those estimates reliable.
Retirement length changes the calculation. Morningstar’s The State of Retirement Income: 2025, published December 3, 2025, estimates safe starting withdrawal rates of 3.9% for 30 years, 3.5% for 35 years and 3.3% for 40 years, under its research assumptions for steady, inflation-adjusted spending. Those rates correspond to roughly 25.6, 28.6 and 30.3 times annual portfolio-funded spending. The research does not establish a personal guarantee, but it shows why a 25-times rule may be too optimistic for someone stopping work at 50 or 55.
Geographic comparisons also need consistent methods. Meyer says his price-level model gives Costa Rica and Spain the same price level, while the viral graphic lists Costa Rica as 42% cheaper. Without a disclosed source and a shared definition of costs, readers cannot tell whether differences reflect housing, health care, taxes, exchange rates or unlike household assumptions.
“The arithmetic is right. Almost everything that matters is missing: a source, a definition of who is retiring, and state pensions.”
— Thorsten Meyer, in his November 4 fact-check
What the Graphic Leaves Unspecified
The graphic’s original data source remains unknown, as does its calculation method for annual costs. It does not identify whether each figure is for an individual or a couple, whether housing is owned or rented, or which taxes, medical costs and insurance expenses are included. Without those definitions, the country rankings and totals cannot be checked on a like-for-like basis.
The pension examples also depend on eligibility and timing. The US benefit figures are averages, while the UK amount is the full new State Pension rate for people who meet the qualifying conditions; neither amount necessarily matches an individual’s record. A pension that begins at 67 does not fund expenses for someone who retires at 55. Exchange rates, future cost increases and personal circumstances can also change the outcome.
Meyer says there is no evidence in the material cited that AI is laying off older workers in large numbers. He points instead to official data showing that older workers who lose jobs find new ones less often. The report does not supply a quantified measure of that job-finding gap or establish that AI caused it, so the scale and cause of any effect remain unclear.
Check Costs Against Personal Income
Readers weighing retirement plans should treat the graphic as an unverified estimate, not a savings target. A sound comparison would first define the household, location, housing arrangement and expected spending, then account for taxes, health coverage and any pension income. People planning an early retirement also need assumptions for a longer period without wages or pension payments.
No correction, source note or revised version from the graphic’s creator is described in Meyer’s report. Until its underlying data and definitions are published, the listed country totals remain difficult to validate. The next useful evidence would be a transparent method for the estimates and figures tailored to a person’s pension eligibility, intended retirement age and likely expenses.
Key Questions
Is the $2 million US retirement figure verified?
No. The 25-times arithmetic is consistent with the $80,000 annual figure, but Meyer could not locate a source for that annual estimate or its assumptions. The multiplication checks out; the underlying cost is unverified.
Does the 25-times rule work for retiring at 50 or 55?
It may be too optimistic for a longer retirement. Morningstar’s 2025 research gives lower starting withdrawal rates for 35- and 40-year periods than for 30 years. The appropriate figure depends on spending, investments and other income; the research is not a personal guarantee.
How could Social Security affect the US estimate?
For a couple both receiving benefits, the Social Security Administration estimates an average of $40,260 a year from January 2027. Subtracting that from the graphic’s $80,000 spending estimate leaves $39,740 for savings to cover; at 25 times that gap, the illustrative total is about $993,500.
Does a lower cost-of-living figure mean a country is affordable to move to?
Not necessarily. A cost estimate does not show whether a person meets visa income rules, has access to health coverage or can rely on local and foreign pension income. Those requirements need to be checked separately.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
