“....Is this an estimate of total assets or cash value of savings? The obvious variable is housing if one owns one’s home....”
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It’s right in the title of the article “Minimum SAVINGS needed to retire....” If you consider the value of your home, car and toybox savings then the answer to your question is yes. For most of us the answer is no because the equity we have in our primary home doesn’t usually pay a dividend that we can use for monthly expenses. Of course, some will chime in and state “what about my HELOC or reverse mortgage?” But once you go down that road you no longer really own your home, you become a co-owner with a bank.
“But once you go down that road you no longer really own your home, you become a co-owner with a bank.”
The bank is not a co-owner. They will not share in the home appreciation.