I retired with $3 million and have already spent $1 million in just 3 years. How can I make sure I don't run out?

Let’s pretend, for example, that Mark is 70 years old. He retired at 67 with $3 million, but he already spent $1 million of it in his first three years of retirement, and now he’s worried about making his cash last.

So, how can Mark ensure that what’s left of his nest egg can support him throughout his retirement? Financial experts spoke to Moneywise to provide some advice on what Mark should do next.

Take stock of where the $1 million went

The first thing Mark needs to do is to take a hard look at how he spent so much so quickly.

“If someone were to have spent $1,000,000 in the first three years of retirement out of a total $3,000,000 nest egg they had saved, this would ring some alarm bells in the event the expenses were not expected,” Clifford Cornell, a CFP and financial advisor at Bone Fide Wealth, told Moneywise.

Steve Azoury, a ChFC and owner of Azoury Financial, agreed. “It’s important to understand what the $1 million was spent on,” Azoury said. “If the $1 million was spent on eliminating debt, like paying off homes and cars, then payments on those items wouldn’t need to be paid anymore in retirement.”

Cornell recommended taking a close look at all the one-off expenses that won’t recur to make sure that these were a substantial part of the initial spending. If they weren’t, this could be a big problem. “If this is someone who is just now realizing their spending rate three years in, this can be a serious risk to their retirement,” he said.

Identify fixed costs and how much to spend going forward

After Mark determines why he spent so much, the next step is making a plan for what he can and should spend going forward so his remaining $2 million doesn’t disappear just as fast.

“With only $2 million left, they obviously cannot spend $1 million a year, and without payments on debts, they should budget and not dig into any principal,” Azoury said.