It’s impossible to give general numbers for how much cash you should keep in retirement. It all comes down to an examination of your expenses. Someone living in a home they own in a rural area in Tennessee will have significantly different costs from someone living in the Bay Area in a rented unit. To calculate how much cash you should keep on hand, you first need to have a solid idea of your monthly expenses. The second thing you need to know is what other sources of income you may have. You’re in one of three categories: under-covered, balanced, or over-covered. Generally, it would help to calculate your necessary cash on hand based on the discrepancy between income and expenses. The larger your cash on hand, the more insulated you will be from economic hardship by adjusting your investments.