Ask how much the average American over 60 lives on each month, and you’ll hear numbers ranging from $2,000 to $8,000 depending on whether someone is talking about Social Security, household income, or actual spending. The confusion is understandable because there isn’t one government statistic covering every American over 60 as though they were a single type of household. Some people in their early 60s are still earning peak-career salaries, while someone in their 80s may live primarily on Social Security, a pension, and investment withdrawals. The latest federal data nevertheless give us useful benchmarks for understanding average monthly income after 60 and how those numbers change as people move deeper into retirement. The biggest lesson is that income generally falls with age, but expenses don’t disappear nearly as quickly.
