Where your retirement $$ lasts the longest.

[Pom]

www.cnbc.com/2022/12/17/states-where-1-million-dollars-retirement-savings-runs-out-fastest.html?ac_cid=DM748936&ac_bid=1837332362

It’s a couple months old, but I just saw it this morning. Spending is more of an ample gauge of your retirement needs, IMO. Since I stumbled in here via The Former Place in 2004, I became obsessed with tracking our expenses. We have a long runway of years to look back on and now my real concerns are future retirement healthcare including long term care and the impact of climate change on our financial lives.

We moved recently because the planets aligned in our lives, but we always planned to retire here. Our home choice is not more affordable but property taxes are lower, we do have state income tax now, but with expanded Medicare/Medicaid, I have noticed our overall health costs and employer benefits are way better than our last state. I’d say utilities are comparable and food close to same too.

Anyone moving to a more affordable area to stretch $ for retirement?

[pierogigirl]

I think I have to stay put (even though I'm in a "bad" state for making money last) because my pension is tax free in my state, but not if I move states.

[simpsongal]

We'd be smart to leave the area b/c Northern Virginia is expensive. The area has trouble retaining retirees for that very reason and there's not much in the way of property tax relief. We're trying to save for retirement such that we have the ability to make these choices and we're not forced to leave.

DH and I suspect we'd move to be closer to our kids once they've settled down w/families. Obviously a lot of assumptions and unknowns there, such is life. We're settled where we are now, even though we'd be better off financially if we moved to a lower cost area (I can work remotely now).

[bee20]

Not planning on moving, my "village" is here and part of my goals for retirement is spending more time with the people I love. I live below my means to make that happen.

It looks like that chart is based on median household income and as a single childless person I spend about 40% of my area's median income per year. It also helps that housing is the biggest expense and I live in a cheaper neighborhood, my house costs about half that of my coworkers' homes.

[aspentosh]

Mar 13, 2023 9:15:36 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

We'd be smart to leave the area b/c Northern Virginia is expensive.

Yeah. Ever since H went 100% remote we've talked about it. But my family is close and so we suck it up for now.

Each time we travel we talk about the place as a possible retirement location. I'm sure some of it will depend on where DD settles down, but H wants to be warm, lol.

[ssmjlm]

Well I keep telling my kid we're just going to buy a RV and park it in her driveway, but she doesn't think I'm being serious.


I want somewhere warmer, that's good for federal retirees, and allows us to help with grandkids (if my kid has children). I don't' foresee any of us staying in this area after college. She has even said she doesn't want to live here as an adult.

I mean, it's not a bad place, but I would prefer to be somewhere with more community resources and walkability.

[Poppy]

That's an interesting way to look at it.

We have no plans to move in retirement. I have lived in CO my whole life and our retirement budget is based off our expenses here. However, if our kids leave and our parents leave or pass away, that could certainly change things. And bigger picture factors such as climate change might eventually play a role. I could also see us going more rural within CO, which might be cheaper, at least while we're healthy. I think if finances required it, we'd cut back on lifestyle things long before opting to move to save money.

[aspentosh]

Mar 13, 2023 13:43:02 GMT -5 Poppy said:

That's an interesting way to look at it.

We have no plans to move in retirement. I have lived in CO my whole life and our retirement budget is based off our expenses here. However, if our kids leave and our parents leave or pass away, that could certainly change things. And bigger picture factors such as climate change might eventually play a role. I could also see us going more rural within CO, which might be cheaper, at least while we're healthy. I think if finances required it, we'd cut back on lifestyle things long before opting to move to save money.

I think there are a few different types of people. I, personally, grew up in NoVA and have no huge draw to stay here besides family. It's expensive, it's crowded (and we have a decent lot size for our area), there is so much construction ALL THE TIME and most of it isn't pretty or adding anything to the landscape, the traffic keeps getting worse, etc. I am a nature lover to my core and H hates being cold, so we want to move somewhere I can be outside all the time and he doesn't need 7 layers. Hence our looking elsewhere for a retirement location and not necessarily to save money.

But I can totally understand people living in an area where there isn't a list of 89345 things they hate, and it makes it much easier to stay there in retirement. I'm jealous of those people! 

[kadams767]

No plans to relocate permanently or become snow birds. All of the “lower taxes” talk doesn’t sway me at all, reality is the places with low taxes, whether they be property or income, are not currently places I’m willing to live in or support with my money otherwise. I am sure there may be an outlier here or there, but the way things currently seem to be going, it looks like a lot of those areas are just going to get worse before they get better.

[k3am]

We live in the Bay Area where housing and every cost of living is stupidly expensive. Barring an incredibly painful market adjustment, it's highly unlikely that my kids will be able to live here as adults. I've been working on brain washing my kids that they want to live within an hour of each other and we'll move to them. Just about anywhere in the country, even expensive areas, would still be a lower cost of living than what we have here, but who knows, it could change.

[wildrice]

Of that list, I'd probably live in some parts of Michigan but that's about it. I used to live in Iowa and loved where I lived, but it has changed so much politically in the last few years that I don't think I'd move back (though the bubble where I lived is still a lovely liberal haven, as far as I know). We are lucky that we do not belong to any marginalized groups, but I'm not about to choose to move to and pay taxes in a state that wants to harm those who do.

We live in one of the top 10 worst (Maryland) but it says 1 million will last at least half as long as we plan to be retired, and I think we'll be able to save well beyond that (like 1.5 or 2 million, not several million beyond!). There is also a high chance we'll relocate out of the country. There are a few places in the US I'd consider relocating to but none of them are going to be a good financial move.