Here’s how long you can live in Washington on $1 million in retirement savings

With the cost of living rising across the United States, you may be wondering about the price of retirement in Washington state.

Personal finance website GoBankingRates looked into how much money you need to save to retire across the United States — and how much $1 million in retirement savings will last you in each state.

“Determining the exact amount of money you need to save to retire comfortably is difficult — and reaching that goal may be even grueling,” GoBankingRates contributor J. Arky wrote in a July 15 article.

Here’s how much it could cost you to retire in Washington state:

How much should I save to retire in Washington?

According to GoBankingRates, Washington ranks among the priciest states for retirees.

“The more expensive a state and its overall cost of living is, the more retirees will need to fund their retirement years,” GoBankingRates contributor Heather Taylor wrote in a July 13 article.

In Washington, retirees spend at least $68,619 a year on average, GoBankngRates said.

After subtracting an annual social security payment of $23,174, the average Washington retiree spends around $45,445 each year, GoBankingsRates said.

Assuming that retirees will spend 4% of their total savings each year, GoBankingRates said, you’d need $1,136,124 in savings to retire in Washington.

How does Washington compare to other U.S. states?

According to the study, Washington residents need to save more for retirement than people in all but eight states.

According to GoBankingRates, Hawaii residents need the most in retirement savings — $2,228,205.

West Virginia was the least expensive state for retirees with $683,969 in savings required to retire, the study found.

How long does $1 million in retirement savings last in Washington?

According to GoBankingRates, $1 million is the “traditional standard for a comfortable retirement.” On average, American adults estimate they’ll need even more — $1.46 million — to comfortably enjoy their retirement, according to a 2024 study by finance services company Northwestern Mutual.

In Washington, $1 million in retirement savings would last 12 years, according to GoBankingRates.

It costs $83,426 a year to live comfortably in the Evergreen State, the personal finance site said.

According to GoBankingRates, here’s how that breaks down:

• Annual groceries cost: $5,234
• Annual housing cost: $15,201
• Annual utilities cost: $4,010
• Annual transportation cost: $5,724
• Annual health care cost: $9,369

Washington ranked among the five most expensive states for retirees, according to GoBankingRates.

The same amount would last 7.3 years in Hawaii, 9.2. years in California and 10 years in Massachusetts.

You could stretch your retirement dollars slightly further in New Jersey, where it’d take you 12.5 years to spend $1 million in savings.

In comparison, $1 million in retirement savings would 24.5 years in West Virginia, the most of any state, GoBankingRates said.

How did GoBankingRates come up with findings?

GoBankingRates said it discovered the minimum amount of money needed to retire in every U.S. state by finding each state’s annual cost of expenditures for a retired person and multiplying age 65 expenditures by the cost-of-living index.

The website then divided each state’s annual expenditures by .04, exempting annual Social Security income, and assumed drawing down savings by 4% each year to pay for living expenses.

To discover the states where $1 million in retirement savings last the longest, GoBankingRates said it calculated the average cost of living in all 50 states using average mortgage and expenditure costs.

“Assuming $1 million in retirement savings, the number of years to draw down was calculated,” the site said.

Data came from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Missouri Economic Research Information Center, Zillow and the Federal Reserve Economic Data.