Saved $1 million for retirement? Here's where your money will last the longest around the U.S. (2024)

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Saved $1 million for retirement? Here's where your money will last the longest around the U.S.? ›

The key finding: Retirees can get the biggest bang for their buck in Mississippi, where the combined cost of food, utilities, housing, health care and other essentials is $44,000 per year. Saving of $1 million in the state would last you nearly 23 years, the personal finance site said.

In fact, statistically, around 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in savings. The majority of retirees, however, have far less saved.

Once you have $1 million in assets, you can look seriously at living entirely off the returns of a portfolio. After all, the S&P 500 alone averages 10% returns per year. Setting aside taxes and down-year investment portfolio management, a $1 million index fund could provide $100,000 annually.

What are the average and median retirement savings? The average retirement savings for all families is $333,940, according to the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances. The median retirement savings for all families is $87,000. Taken on their own, those numbers aren't incredibly helpful.

Based on this, if you retire at age 65 and live until you turn 84, $1 million will probably be enough retirement savings for you. However, it's important to remember there is no one-size-fits-all amount.

For retirees in California, the annual cost of living expenses would be $72,319.57, meaning a $1 million retirement fund would last for about 14 years. Retirement can often last 25 years or more, according to Fidelity.

A $1 million retirement account gives you around $40,000 per year for the first few years of your retirement. Once Social Security kicks in, this will give you on average anywhere from $65,000 to $95,000 per year depending on your lifetime earnings and when you began collecting benefits.

Around the U.S., a $1 million nest egg can cover an average of 18.9 years worth of living expenses, GoBankingRates found. But where you retire can have a profound impact on how far your money goes, ranging from as a little as 10 years in Hawaii to more than than 20 years in more than a dozen states.

One of the most popular withdrawal approaches is the 4% rule, which says that if you save $1 million and withdraw 4% per year ($40,000), you should be able to live off of that when combined with your income from Social Security, which will add somewhere around $24,000 per year depending on a number of factors.

Specifically, those with over $1 million in retirement accounts are in the top 3% of retirees. The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) estimates that 3.2% of retirees have over $1 million, and a mere 0.1% have $5 million or more, based on data from the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances.

What is the average Social Security check? ›

Overall total average payments for the state of California: Total number of beneficiaries: 6,166,205. Total benefits: $9,340,498,000. Average total benefits: $1,515.

Many retirees fall far short of that amount, but their savings may be supplemented with other forms of income. According to data from the BLS, average 2022 incomes after taxes were as follows for older households: 65-74 years: $63,187 per year or $5,266 per month. 75 and older: $47,928 per year or $3,994 per month.

Americans think they need almost $1.5 million to retire. Experts say to focus on another number instead. Americans' “magic number” savings goal for retirement has increased by over 50% since 2020. But experts say the secret to building true wealth is having a high savings rate.

There are estimated to be a little over 8 million households in the US with a net worth of $3 million or more.

Data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, based on the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, reveals that a mere 0.1% of retirees manage to accumulate over $5 million in their retirement accounts, whereas only 3.2% amass over $1 million.