Personal Finance
Is $1 Million Enough for Retirement in America?
Is $1 Million Enough for Retirement in America?
The average American needs their retirement savings to last them 14 to 17 years. With this in mind, is $1 million in savings enough for the average retiree?
Ultimately, it depends on where you live, since the average cost of living varies across the country. This graphic, using data compiled by GOBankingRates.com shows how many years $1 million in retirement savings lasts in the top 50 most populated U.S. cities.
Editor’s note: As one user rightly pointed out, this analysis doesn’t take into account interest earned on the $1 million. With that in consideration, the above calculations could be seen as very conservative figures.
How Long $1 Million Would Last in 50 Cities
To compile this data, GOBankingRates calculated the average expenditures of people aged 65 or older in each city, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and cost-of-living indices from Sperling’s Best Places.
That figure was then reduced to account for average Social Security income. Then, GOBankingRates divided the one million by each city’s final figure to calculate how many years $1 million would last in each place.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, San Francisco, California came in as the most expensive city on the list. $1 million in retirement savings lasts approximately eight years in San Francisco, which is about half the time that the typical American needs their retirement funds to last.
| City | How long $1 would last (years) | Cost-of-living Index | Annual expenditures (after using annual Social Security) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis, TN | 45.3 | 76 | $22,043 |
| El Paso, TX | 40.3 | 81.4 | $24,789 |
| Wichita, KS | 39.7 | 82.1 | $25,145 |
| Tulsa, OK | 38.8 | 83.2 | $25,705 |
| Indianapolis, IN | 38.6 | 83.5 | $25,857 |
| Milwaukee, WI | 37.6 | 84.9 | $26,569 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 37.3 | 85.4 | $26,824 |
| Columbus, OH | 37.2 | 85.5 | $26,875 |
| Kansas City, MO | 36.7 | 86.2 | $27,231 |
| Detroit, MI | 35.8 | 87.6 | $27,943 |
| Baltimore, MD | 35.3 | 88.2 | $28,248 |
| Louisville, KY | 35.3 | 88.4 | $28,349 |
| San Antonio, TX | 34.4 | 89.7 | $29,011 |
| Omaha, NE | 34.3 | 89.8 | $29,062 |
| Albuquerque, NM | 33.6 | 91.1 | $29,723 |
| Tucson, AZ | 33.3 | 91.6 | $29,977 |
| Jacksonville, FL | 32.3 | 93.5 | $30,943 |
| New Orleans, LA | 30.8 | 96.3 | $32,367 |
| Houston, TX | 30.8 | 96.5 | $32,469 |
| Charlotte, NC | 29.6 | 98.9 | $33,690 |
| Forth Worth, TX | 29.3 | 99.8 | $34,148 |
| Arlington, TX | 28.8 | 100.6 | $34,554 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 28.6 | 101.2 | $34,860 |
| Nashville, TN | 28.5 | 101.4 | $34,961 |
| Dallas, TX | 28.4 | 101.6 | $35,063 |
| Raleigh, NC | 28.2 | 102.3 | $35,419 |
| Fresno, CA | 28.1 | 102.6 | $35,572 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 27.6 | 103.7 | $36,131 |
| Mesa, AZ | 27.4 | 104.2 | $36,385 |
| Colorado Springs, CO | 27.3 | 104.5 | $36,538 |
| Virginia Beach, VA | 26.9 | 105.6 | $37,097 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 26.6 | 106.5 | $37,555 |
| Chicago, IL | 26.4 | 106.9 | $37,759 |
| Atlanta, GA | 26.3 | 107.5 | $38,064 |
| Las Vegas, NV | 24.8 | 111.6 | $40,149 |
| Sacramento, CA | 22.9 | 118.2 | $43,506 |
| Austin, TX | 22.7 | 119.3 | $44,065 |
| Miami, FL | 21.7 | 123.1 | $45,998 |
| Denver, CO | 20.4 | 128.7 | $48,846 |
| Portland, OR | 20.0 | 130.8 | $49,914 |
| Washington, D.C. | 16.4 | 152.1 | $60,747 |
| San Diego, CA | 15.4 | 160.1 | $64,816 |
| Long Beach, CA | 15.3 | 160.4 | $64,969 |
| Boston, MA | 15.1 | 162.4 | $65,986 |
| Seattle. WA | 14.0 | 172.3 | $71,021 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 13.9 | 173.3 | $71,530 |
| Oakland, CA | 13.8 | 174.4 | $72,089 |
| New York, NY | 12.7 | 187.2 | $78,599 |
| San Jose, CA | 10.8 | 214.5 | $92,484 |
| San Francisco, CA | 8.3 | 269.3 | $120,355 |
A big factor in San Francisco’s high cost of living is its housing costs. According to Sperlings Best Places, housing in San Francisco is almost 6x more expensive than the national average and 3.6x more expensive than in the overall state of California.
Four of the top five most expensive cities on the list are in California, with New York City being the only outlier. NYC is the third most expensive city on the ranking, with $1 million expected to last a retiree about 12.7 years.
On the other end of the spectrum, $1 million in retirement would last 45.3 years in Memphis, Tennessee. That’s about 37 years longer than it would last in San Francisco. In Memphis, housing costs are about 2.7x lower than the national average, with other expenses like groceries, health, and utilities well below the national average as well.
Retirement, Who?
Regardless of where you live, it’s helpful to start planning for retirement sooner rather than later. But according to a recent survey, only 41% of women and 58% of men are actively saving for retirement.
However, for some, COVID-19 has been the financial wake-up call they needed to start planning for the future. In fact, in the same survey, 70% of respondents claimed the pandemic has “caused them to pay more attention to their long-term finances.”
This is good news, considering that people are living longer than they used to, meaning their funds need to last longer in general (or people need to retire later in life). Although, as the data in this graphic suggests, where you live will greatly influence how much you actually need.
Personal Finance
Ranked: The Best Countries to Retire In
Which countries are the best equipped to support their aging population? This graphic show the best countries to retire in around the world.
Ranked: The Best Countries to Retire in Around the World
Our global population is getting older. By 2050, the OECD predicts that 30% of people worldwide will be aged 65 or over.
While some countries are relatively prepared to handle this increase in the elderly demographic, others are already feeling the squeeze and struggling with the challenges that come with a rapidly aging population.
Which countries are the best equipped to support their senior citizens? This graphic uses data from the 2022 Natixis Global Retirement Index to show the best countries to retire in around the world, based on several different factors that we’ll dig into below.
What Makes a Country Retirement-Friendly?
When people consider what makes a place an ideal retirement location, it’s natural to think about white sand beaches, hot climates, and endless sunny days. And, in truth, the right net worth opens up a world of opportunity of where to enjoy one’s golden years.
The Global Retirement Index (GRI) examines retirement from different, more quantitative perspective. The annual report looks at 44 different countries and ranks them based on their retirement security. The index considers 18 factors, which are grouped into four overarching categories:
- Health: Health spend per capita, life expectancy, and non-insured health spend.
- Quality of Life: Happiness levels, water and sanitation, air quality, other environmental factors, and biodiversity/habitat.
- Material Wellbeing: Income per capita, income equality, and employment levels.
- Finances in Retirement: Government debt, old-age dependency, interest rates, inflation, governance, tax pressure, and bank non-performing loans.
Using these 18 metrics, a score from 0.01 to 1 is determined for each country, which is then converted to a percentage. For a more detailed explanation of the report’s methodology, explore Appendix A (page 72) of the report.
The Top 25 Best Countries to Retire in
With an overall score of 81%, Norway comes in at number one as the most retirement-friendly country on the list.
| Rank | Country | Score | Health | Quality of Life | Material Wellbeing | Finances in Retirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 81% | 91% | 87% | 79% | 69% |
| 2 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 80% | 90% | 86% | 69% | 74% |
| 3 | 🇮🇸 Iceland | 79% | 88% | 86% | 77% | 68% |
| 4 | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 76% | 89% | 80% | 67% | 70% |
| 5 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 75% | 88% | 77% | 66% | 72% |
| 6 | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 75% | 85% | 81% | 64% | 71% |
| 7 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 75% | 91% | 81% | 72% | 59% |
| 8 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 75% | 89% | 80% | 78% | 56% |
| 9 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 74% | 86% | 88% | 76% | 54% |
| 10 | 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | 73% | 76% | 68% | 84% | 64% |
| 11 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 72% | 87% | 80% | 71% | 55% |
| 12 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 71% | 84% | 89% | 63% | 55% |
| 13 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 71% | 90% | 87% | 59% | 56% |
| 14 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 71% | 86% | 82% | 69% | 54% |
| 15 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 71% | 87% | 74% | 58% | 67% |
| 16 | 🇮🇱 Israel | 70% | 82% | 74% | 60% | 66% |
| 17 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 70% | 80% | 59% | 68% | 73% |
| 18 | 🇺🇸 United States | 69% | 85% | 72% | 56% | 67% |
| 19 | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 69% | 83% | 82% | 61% | 55% |
| 20 | 🇧🇪 Belgium | 69% | 85% | 74% | 70% | 51% |
| 21 | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | 69% | 82% | 69% | 77% | 51% |
| 22 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 69% | 91% | 67% | 72% | 51% |
| 23 | 🇲🇹 Malta | 68% | 78% | 61% | 72% | 63% |
| 24 | 🇫🇷 France | 66% | 90% | 78% | 57% | 48% |
| 25 | 🇪🇪 Estonia | 66% | 68% | 68% | 60% | 68% |
Norway is at the top of this year’s ranking for several reasons. For starters, it achieved the highest score in the Health category, largely because of its high average life expectancy, which is 83 years old, or 9 years longer than the global average.
Norway also has the highest score of all the countries for Governance, a category gauged by assessing country corruption levels, political stability, and government effectiveness, and is in a three-way tie with Japan and Luxembourg in the Health category.
Second on the list is another European country, Switzerland, with an overall score of 80%. It’s the highest-ranked country for environmental factors, and it also has the highest overall score in the Finances in Retirement category.
A Regional Breakdown
While European countries dominate the top 10 in the ranking, how does Europe rank as a region as a whole? Before diving in, it’s important to note that the study actually breaks up Europe into two sections: Eastern Europe (grouped with Central Asia) and Western Europe.
| Rank | Region | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North America | 69% |
| 2 | Western Europe | 66% |
| 3 | Eastern Europe and Central Asia | 49% |
| 4 | Latin America | 37% |
| 5 | Asia Pacific | 32% |
And from a regional perspective, North America comes in first place despite the fact no countries in the region made it into the top 10. North America only has two countries included in the ranking: Canada (#15) and the U.S. (#18), which both rank relatively high.
In contrast, Western and Eastern Europe have more countries to account for, which ultimately lowers their regional average.
The Future of Retirement
As longevity rises and the retirement aged population continues to increase worldwide, many countries are opting to change their pension policies in an effort to encourage people to stay in the workforce longer.
For instance, in 2018, people in the UK could claim their State Pension once they turned 65. By 2028, this age requirement will be raised to 67.
However, government intervention may not be necessary, as many people around the world are already staying in the workforce beyond the traditional retirement age (perhaps more out of necessity than choice).
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