How Long $1 Million in Retirement Will Last in Every State

Hawaii Annual groceries cost: $6,419.51 Annual housing cost: $31,797.41 Annual utilities cost: $5,470.22 Annual transportation cost: $4,461.26 Annual healthcare cost: $8,008.27 Total annual expenditures: $91,684.73 How long $1 million will last in savings: 10 years, 10 months, 24 days

Pennsylvania Annual groceries cost: $4,452.04 Annual housing cost: $8,477.33 Annual utilities cost: $4,127.25 Annual transportation cost: $3,785.97 Annual healthcare cost: $6,434.62 Total annual expenditures: $46,389.53 How long $1 million will last in savings: 21 years, 6 months, 16 days

Mississippi Annual groceries cost: $3,880.29 Annual housing cost: $6,325.77 Annual utilities cost: $3,404.70 Annual transportation cost: $3,200.47 Annual healthcare cost: $6,494.63 Total annual expenditures: $39,538.15 How long $1 million will last in savings: 25 years, 3 months, 9 days

Correct, as that money went into the 401k pre-tax. So it gets taxed when you pull it out later (though ideally at a much lower tax rate than when you were working).

My wife did some Roth conversions on hers so we will have some tax free to pull from. Meantime, I'm focusing on building up my savings - would like to have about a year of living expenses saved in cash that can be used for unexpected expenses like home repairs and such.

We “downsized” from a 3500 sq ft house to a 7800 sq ft house for less money. So we have no mortgage and netted some cash which we spent on the new house. But we got addicted to having that money in savings.

So going back to work after I retire means I can’t touch the retirement money. It’s basically a long term care policy because we will never have “lean” years because of pensions and social security.

I’m thinking about writing a book called “The Accidental Millionaire” about people who became millionaires without setting out to do it and the challenges they face. People who plan to be a millionaire have a *plan*. People who just stumble into it end up saying “Now what?”. I know plenty of these people like me who don’t really do anything with the money. One of my friends says he is a poor person who has money. That’s a great description. My wife worked out a spreadsheet last night showing how we will be in financial trouble when I retire because our income will drop.

My grown children have no idea of my net worth and my retirement nest egg and I like it that way as they have no expectations. That way, they are motivated to save diligently for their own retirements. I have it spelled out in the will what they will get and that's when they will find out how much I had left over!

Nothing wrong with leaving a windfall for your children but they shouldn't be led to expect it and you certainly don't want your own children to waiting for you to die so they can get their hands on it. Not that I think my children are like that but then again, they probably won't be rooting for me to join the centenarian club either! I often joke to my kids that I'll leave them just enough to pay for my funeral - so they should be pleasantly surprised when my time comes.

What I think saddest of all are folks that spend their retirements living much more frugally then they need to because they want to leave that big windfall for their kids. People in retirement have worked all their lives. They should be able to live fully up to the means that their retirement savings provides for them. I tell my retired parents and in-laws to go ahead and spend it all. Have some fun!

Biggest problem with TN for retirees is that pesky sky high sales tax on everything.
___________________________________________________
Perhaps retire in a part of Tennessee that borders a low sales tax state!! 8 to chooose from!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.