costs to retire "comfortably" in each state

[sturbridge]

And here I thought I was living comfortably, yet what I spend in an average year is only half of what this article thinks I need....

[Rianne]

Illinois here, $59K is about right for DH/me. I would think a lot more in and @ Chicago, this must be an average. Southern Ill. would be much less. We're in Champaign, 200 mi S of Chicago.

[HI Bill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB Yup. Lot's of places here in CA that are brutally expensive, but the central valley is not one of them.

What part of the Central Valley are you in? I grew up near Redding.

[RobbieB]

Stockton

[ejman]

Oh dear, now I'm going to have to explain to DW that even though we've been retired for 17 years, have a nice 7 acre little ranch with five horses, a nice house, a nice car, a nice truck, travel and do everything we want to do we've been living a substandard life as we only expend 2/3 of what we are supposed to in our state.

[Ed B]

I don't feel like looking it up right now but I kind of suspect that these numbers for each state are simply a percentage of the state's median household income.

[FANOFJESUS]

We spend less than half of the number they listed.

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FANOFJESUS We spend less than half of the number they listed.

And we spend about 40% more than the "average" for our state.

Which just goes to show, talking about averages for an entire state is pretty much a waste of time.

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardsFan And we spend about 40% more than the "average" for our state. Which just goes to show, talking about averages for an entire state is pretty much a waste of time.

+1 We clearly spend more than the Florida average. If one lives in one of the many rural areas of FLA vs. Miami for example, there is a big difference in COL.

[timo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider Seems quite high doesn't it? Even in the poorer states like Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana it is still $50k+. I wonder if that is before or after Tax? We spend about $45k of REAL after Tax money in NE Florida per year to just break even, before discretionary spending and we do not have a mortgage. I would also bet that the median of families in those states will be way below that in reality, especially the poorer ones I mentioned. So even pre-retirement living would not be considered "Comfortable" by their standards I am sure. Add the cost of going to work every day may push it even higher.

Based upon my past research before I retired, these amounts seem OK. For instance, around 2010 the Elder index came out with what amount of gross income was needed (by county) to stay off any sort of public assistance for the elderly. Those amounts were typically (IIRC) in the range of $40 to $55K per year. Add some inflation and some extra fun money, and the total seems to be in the ballpark for this summary.

edit: here is the aforementioned elder index, and I did not recall correctly. A spot check showed the annual minimum income to be in $35K to 45K https://www.ncoa.org/economic-securi...t/elder-index/

[Bamaman]

I have yet to agree with such information on cost of living.

I also disagree with magazines when they rank states for quality of life, etc. So many of those in the top ten are HCOL states or states with houses that are just not up to my standards.

It'd be like living in Toronto in a $600K house. Such a residence might cost $100K where I live and just far, far below my standards for a home.

[HI Bill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman I have yet to agree with such information on cost of living. I also disagree with magazines when they rank states for quality of life, etc. So many of those in the top ten are HCOL states or states with houses that are just not up to my standards. It'd be like living in Toronto in a $600K house. Such a residence might cost $100K where I live and just far, far below my standards for a home.

Yes, in Hawaii, $600K would get you....a small to medium condo, and not even a starter house, except in the countryside. Except, you'd be in Hawaii, with near-perfect weather, and almost no significant natural hazards (unless you live on the rift zone or on the beach). Most of these articles rank quality of life, which isn't just about real estate for many people. If I wanted a mansion, I'd move somewhere where they were cheap. But I wouldn't like the areas, most likely!

Ironically, I've been looking for a very high-quality 1,200-1,500 sf house on Hawaii Island, and all of the houses I've found in those square footage ranges are cheaply built with 8-foot ceilings, and generally run $500-700K. Bump it to $1M, and you can get a 2,500-3,500 sf house, but also cheaply built. Bump it to $1.5M, and stick closer to 2,500, and now, you're getting closer to something with vaulted ceilings and walk-in showers that doesn't look like it was built in the 1970s. Sorry, a little off-topic again. My point was, I'd rather pay more for a nicer place in a higher quality of life area, than to live in a really large/nice house in an area I don't want to be.

[EastWest Gal]

The biggest problem is they use average for each state. It would much closer to reality if they broke it down city size, urban, greater urban area, rural, etc. Most states have some more expensive areas in large urban areas-Upstate NY vs NYC for example. If you leave NYC, the rest of NY is probably comparable to neighboring states.

Then they haven’t described household size-some retirees are single, and then there’s widows/widowers.

As a medical lecturer once said, the average human being has one ovary and one testicle. So no one is really “average”.

[NW-Bound]

Much of the difference in the cost of living between places is in the housing cost.

And even here, there's a huge variation within the same state. But of course, Hawaii is generally more expensive than California, which is more expensive than Arkansas. The numbers are interesting to look at for a rough comparison, nothing more.

[timo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastWest Gal The biggest problem is they use average for each state. It would much closer to reality if they broke it down city size, urban, greater urban area, rural, etc. Most states have some more expensive areas in large urban areas-Upstate NY vs NYC for example. If you leave NYC, the rest of NY is probably comparable to neighboring states. Then they haven’t described household size-some retirees are single, and then there’s widows/widowers. As a medical lecturer once said, the average human being has one ovary and one testicle. So no one is really “average”.

Totally agree. The only study I've seen that does that is that elder index that I posted earlier. It goes by each county in each state, for single and married.

To me, all the glitzy click bait articles is what I call 'retirement porn' for those that can not retire early. It's fun to look at but will never happen.

[W2R]

$57,964? Yeah right.

That would go a long way in New Orleans, much less in the boonies.

Typical Marketwatch article.

[aaronc879]

These articles are never worthwhile. It's all up to the individual. I live comfortably on less than $20K/yr with a mortgage. My parents live a couple blocks away. They have $60K+/yr of income(VA disabilty, pension, SS X2) and always say they feel poor. They have no mortgage and property taxes are under $2K/yr. Where's the money go. There are multiple other examples of people who live within a few miles of me who are on either end of the spending rate so it doesn't matter where you live.

[FreeBear]

Interesting, we usually budget and spend 15-30% more than what is "comfortable" in our state according to the article. The number stated, coincidentally, corresponds to our "survival" budget. We do have a mortagage and live in the HCOL part of the state.

Subjectively speaking, we live like kings! We ride our bikes all day and enjoyed grilled salmon dinners on the deck with an adult beverage. Life is good. It's just so amazing to not have to w*rk for a living!

[ckelly78z]

No doubt that a large metropolitan area will be much higher COL than a rural small town. We live on a 10 acre farm that is paid off, and have low overhead, from living somewhat frugally. We know many city folks who more than make up for our "cheapness" by living in the high rent district, constantly going out for dinner, and a ball game, wearing designer clothes, and driving new Teslas.

[foxfirev5]

Well I see that I'm above average at something.