Sadly, these days, it’s only a fraction of what you will really need.

For instance, a 67-year-old Baby Boomer retiring now with $1 million in the bank will generate $40,000 to live on in the first year, adjusted for inflation and assuming a sustainable withdrawal rate of 4%, said Mark Avallone, president of Potomac Wealth Advisors and author of “Countdown to Financial Freedom.” (In subsequent years, portfolio gains and losses could affect those numbers.)

It’s even worse for a 42-year-old Gen Xer, whose $1 million at retirement will only generate an inflation-adjusted $19,000 in year one after all is said and done. And a 32-year-old Millennial planning to retire at 67 with $1 million would be below the poverty line.

That’s what Avallone, a certified financial planner, calls “million-dollar poverty.”

For most Americans, there’s been a serious lack of proper investment income and planning, Avallone said. That, coupled with inflation, a looming pension crisis and longer life expectancy, is “a toxic formula for a successful retirement,” he said — one that will result in a dramatic drop-off in lifestyle for retirees.

“Today’s generation of working people grew up in an era where their parents went to a mailbox, and a check appeared. But pensions are almost extinct,” Avallone said. “People have to self-fund their retirement, and the enormity of that challenge is underestimated.”

If you are interested in finding out how a Reverse Mortgage could help your Nest Egg call Scott Underwood in Birmingham at 205-908-2993/