States Where $1.5 Million Lasts Longest, Shortest in Retirement

New GOBankingRates rankings find it will last only 17 years in one state, but 54 in another

States where $1.5 million lasts longest in retirement — Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. Image credit: © Jon Bilous | Dreamstime.com

When it comes to the question of where a retirement nest egg will last longer and where it will evaporate fastest, the researchers over at GOBanking Rates have some thoughts.

While it can be argued until the cows come home if there is any validity to a “magic number” for retirement—believed to be $1.5 million according to a Northwestern Mutual poll—GOBanking Rates released a new study ranking states by how long $1.5 million would last in retirement.

To come up with the rankings, the researchers first analyzed the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey (the latest public data available), which details how much adults 65 and older spend each year on groceries, housing, utilities, transportation and health care. The data was then adjusted for each state using the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s cost-of-living index.

What did they find out?

• $1.5 million will last you less than 25 years in three states: Hawaii, Massachusetts and California.

• $1.5 million will last you more than 50 years in six states.

• In two of America’s most popular states for retirement, Florida and Arizona, $1.5 million lasts you 39 and 34 years, respectively.

Read on for the five states where $1.5 million will last the longest, and conversely the five states where it will be gone the fastest. You can find the full report, which includes the complete methodology and rankings for all 50 states, here: https://www.gobankingrates.com/retirement/planning/how-far-1-5-million-plus-social-security-goes-in-every-state/