Getting to retire is a major accomplishment. It means you’ve worked hard, invested well, and earned yourself all those golden years to come. But how much, exactly, do you need to have that comfortable retirement we all dream of having? That all depends on where you live.
GoBankingRates released its latest data on how much money people need to save monthly for a comfortable retirement. It reached its conclusion by analyzing data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, the Missouri Economic and Research Information Center, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the Zillow Home Value Index, the Federal Reserve Economic Data, and the Social Security Administration.
It then used the retirement age of 65 and the life expectancy of 85, along with a “variety of ages,” to calculate savings, including starting saving at ages 20 and 30. The calculations also included the average monthly Social Security benefits at $1,876 for one person.
After crunching all the numbers, GoBankingRates found that you need to have more than $1 million in savings to retire comfortably in 23 states for 20 years. These include California, Massachusetts, Washington, New Jersey, Colorado, New Hampshire, Utah, Oregon, Rhode Island, Alaska, New York, Connecticut, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Maryland, Arizona, Maine, Vermont, Florida, Virginia, and Delaware.
It also includes Hawaii, the most expensive state of all, which requires more than $3 million in savings for a 20-year comfortable retirement. Specifically, for a comfortable retirement to age 85, you’ll need $3,105,384. To reach this, GoBankingRates explained you’d need to “start saving $5,751 a month at age 20 or $7,394 a month at age 30 (with Social Security benefits).”
But there are still plenty of places where $500,000 in savings offers a comfortable retirement. That includes Louisiana, which requires $499,020; Arkansas, at $489,937; Mississippi, at $442,620; and West Virginia, which GoBankingRates noted is the cheapest state of all, at $434,501.
However, if that’s still too much for you, you could always look at retiring abroad. Several nations have far more affordable monthly living expenses that also welcome American retirees, including Mexico, Panama, and Portugal, where you can thrive for under $1,000 a month.
See more great retirement destinations around the world here, and find out where your state ranks on the GoBankingRates retirement list at gobankingrates.com.
