7 States Where You May Outlive $1 Million Retirement Savings
Written by
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
Edited by
Angela Corry
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A million dollars in retirement savings can seem like a lot of money, but these dollars won’t stretch equally around the country. What’s more, only 32% of Americans who have $1 million in assets consider themselves “wealthy,” according to a new Northwestern Mutual study.
And that’s not entirely surprising, since the so-called “magic number” in retirement has increased every year. It now stands at $1.46 million, up from $1.27 the previous year, according to a separate Northwestern Mutual report.
Depending on where you live, the disparities in retirement financial well-being around the country are quite startling. Indeed, a recent GOBankingRates survey found that while $1 million for retirement can last a little bit over nine years in Hawaii over in West Virginia, it will last more than double that timeframe.
Of course, experts said that no matter what, to not outlive $1 million in retirement savings, planning and discipline are everything.
Here are the eight states where you will outlive $1 million in retirement, according to the GOBankingRates survey. You can see how long your funds will last in all 50 states here.
Hawaii
Total annual expenditures: $103,610
How long $1 million will last in savings: 9 years, 7 months, 25 days
Massachusetts
Total annual expenditures: $85,571
How long $1 million will last in savings: 11 years, 8 months, 9 days
California
Total annual expenditures: $78,864
How long $1 million will last in savings: 12 years, 8 months, 5 days
New York
Total annual expenditures: $73,140
How long $1 million will last in savings: 13 years, 8 months, 1 day
Alaska
Total annual expenditures: $73,082
How long $1 million will last in savings: 13 years, 8 months, 5 days
Washington
Total annual expenditures: $66,895
How long $1 million will last in savings: 14 years, 11 months, 12 days
New Hampshire
Total annual expenditures: $66,838
How long $1 million will last in savings: 14 years, 11 months, 16 days
Methodology: In order to find how long $1,000,000 will last across the country, GOBankingRates first found (1) the national average annual expenditures for people 65 and older, sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Then, GOBankingRates created (2) state-level annual expenditure estimates by multiplying the national figure by each state’s overall cost of living index score for the 3Q 2023 from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. Finally, GOBankingRates found (3) how many years $1,000,000 will last in each state by dividing $1,000,000 by each state’s average annual expenditures estimate. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were then ranked with No. 1 being the state where $1,000,000 will last the longest and No. 51 being the state where it will run out most quickly. GOBankingRates provided supplemental information on the average annual cost of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, and healthcare for people 65 and older in each state by again using MERIC’s cost of living indices for each category to factor out national estimates from the CES. All data was collected on and up to date as of April 23, 2024.
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