Why $1 Million in Retirement Savings May Not Be Enough Anymore

Canadians looking to retire with $1 million in savings should revisit their magic retirement number.

Between rising inflation and a longer life expectancy, the famous seven-figure target is looking less like a finish line and more like a starting point.

That doesn’t mean you’re in trouble. But it does mean the math deserves a much closer look.

Let’s say you started saving in 2011 with the goal of retiring in 2035 with $1 million. At an average inflation rate of 3% per year, your $1 million will have the buying power of roughly $500,000 over 24 years.

Things that cost $1,000 in 2011 may cost $2,000 by 2035. Inflation doesn’t stop at retirement, either. Even a comfortable $2 million nest egg will gradually lose ground to rising prices in your later years. That’s a hard pill to swallow, but the good news is you can plan for it now.

The 4% rule is the most common framework for retirement withdrawals. The idea is simple: withdraw 4% of your savings in your first year of retirement, then adjust annually for inflation. Applied to $1 million, that gives you $40,000 per year.

For some people, especially with a paid-off home and modest lifestyle, that’s workable. Add in a government pension or payouts from the Canada Pension Plan, and you might land somewhere around $50,000 to $60,000 a year in total retirement income. That covers the basics but leaves little room for travel, home repairs, unexpected healthcare expenses, or simply enjoying your later years.

Stretching your target to $1.5 million changes the picture significantly. At 4%, that’s $60,000 annually from your savings, a meaningful difference that could fund a decade of travel or cover a serious medical bill without derailing your finances.

Shopify stock could accelerate your retirement

Investing in quality growth stocks such as Shopify (TSX:SHOP) could help you accelerate your retirement plan by a few years. Valued at a market cap of $216 billion, Shopify stock has returned over 4,000% to shareholders over the past decade.

Shopify President Harley Finkelstein recently told the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference that it processed roughly US$380 billion in gross merchandise volume last year and generated approximately US$2 billion in free cash flow.

More importantly, Shopify is positioning itself at the center of what could be the next major shift in commerce: agentic shopping, where artificial intelligence agents browse, compare, and complete purchases on behalf of consumers.

Finkelstein called it “one of the most exciting new trends for commerce, maybe since the Internet.” Traffic to Shopify stores coming from agentic applications increased roughly 15-fold between January 2025 and January 2026.

For retirement investors, this matters because a company growing at 30% annually can compound a portfolio dramatically faster than bonds or dividend stocks alone. If you invested $20,000 in Shopify today and it continued growing at even half that pace over a decade, you’d be looking at a position worth well over $50,000 without adding another dollar. That’s the kind of acceleration that closes the gap between a $1 million retirement and a $1.5 million one.

The Foolish takeaway

Saving $1 million for retirement is still an admirable and important goal. But it’s no longer a guarantee of a comfortable retirement. Inflation, rising costs, and longer lifespans mean most Canadians will need more.

The combination of a diversified income portfolio — bonds, dividend growers, and growth stocks — gives you the best shot at both generating income today and growing wealth for tomorrow.

And for investors with time on their side, owning high-quality growth companies like Shopify could be one of the most powerful tools in your retirement playbook.

The post Why $1 Million in Retirement Savings May Not Be Enough Anymore appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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More reading

• 2 TSX Stocks Worth Buying Before the Next Market Recovery Gets Going
• What a Typical 50-Year-Old Canadian Actually Has in Their TFSA 
• Where I’d Put My $7,000 TFSA Contribution If I Were Starting Fresh This Year
• Where to Invest Your $7,000 TFSA Contribution
• Your RRSP Balance Doesn’t Matter as Much as These 3 Things in Retirement

Fool contributor Aditya Raghunath has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Shopify. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.