Finance

Study shows how long Social Security, $1.5M nest egg would last in 50 states

Published

3 months ago

March 17, 2025

Ramsey Solutions financial expert George Kamel weighs in on Americans working past retirement age and provides advice for investors.

Retirement nest eggs and Social Security benefits are key sources of funds for many Americans as they live out their golden years in the state of their choosing.

A recently-released study from GOBankingRates looked at the financial runway that retirees would have in each state with Social Security benefits and $1.5 million socked away for retirement, finding West Virginia offered the most years before living costs would deplete their retirement savings.

The Mountain State ranked No. 1 with $1.5 million in retirement savings expected to sustain retirees there for a whopping 54 years while facing about $27,800 in living costs each year after Social Security benefits, according to the study.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) allows Americans to access their Social Security retirement benefits early starting at age 62, though payments “will be reduced a small percentage for each month before your full retirement age” if they do that, according to the SSA. One’s “full retirement age” depends on when a person was born.

SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS TO INCREASE FOR PUBLIC PENSION RECIPIENTS

GOBankingRates said it used data from a slew of sources, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the SSA and Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, to determine its rankings of how states stack up in terms of the amount of time that Social Security and $1.5 million in retirement would last retirees residing in them.

Overall, the study indicated that those two sources of funds would provide different amounts of years of “financial security” for retirees in states across the country. States’ cost of living after Social Security ranged from $27,803 to $87,770 per year, it found.

401(K) BALANCES HIT SECOND HIGHEST ON RECORD: FIDELITY

GoBankingRates found the number of years that $1.5 million and Social Security would sustain retirees in each state was:

West Virginia: 54 years ($27,803 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Slightly processed using HDR technique (iStock / iStock)

Kansas: 52 years ($28,945 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Mississippi: 51 years ($29,426 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Oklahoma: 51 years ($29,666 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Alabama: 50 years ($30,207 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Missouri: 50 years ($30,327 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Arkansas: 49 years ($30,237 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Tennessee: 49 years ($30,928 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Iowa: 48 years ($31,168 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Indiana: 47 years ($31,709 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Aerial view of Indianapolis downtown with Statehouse in Indiana (iStock / iStock)

Georgia: 47 years ($31,829 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

North Dakota: 47 years ($32,190 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Michigan: 46 years ($32,310 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

South Dakota: 46 years ($32,310 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Texas: 46 years ($32,490 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Nebraska: 46 years ($32,610 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Kentucky: 46 years ($32,670 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

New Mexico: 46 years ($32,670 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Louisiana: 45 years ($33,031 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

An aerial view of downtown Baton Rouge from the State Capitol building, looking towards the Mississippi bridge and river. (iStock / iStock)

Montana: 45 years ($33,331 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Ohio: 44 years ($33,827 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Pennsylvania: 44 years ($33,872 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

South Carolina: 44 years ($34,052 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Minnesota: 44 years ($34,113 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Wyoming: 44 years ($34,173 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Illinois: 44 years ($34,233 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

North Carolina: 42 years ($35,495 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, USA Drone Skyline Aerial. (iStock / iStock)

Maryland: 41 years ($36,276 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Wisconsin: 41 years ($36,516 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Nevada: 41 years ($26,997 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Delaware: 40 years ($37,057 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Virginia: 40 years ($37,237 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Idaho: 39 years ($38,379 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Florida: 39 years ($38,379 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

WalletHub published a report on Monday that found the best U.S. states to retire in 2022. Florida was at the top of the list. Tallahassee, Florida, is pictured. (iStock)

Colorado: 39 years ($38,559 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Utah: 35 years ($42,645 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Oregon: 35 years ($42,945 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

New Hampshire: 34 years ($43,847 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Connecticut: 34 years ($43,967 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Rhode Island: 34 years ($44,387 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Arizona: 34 years ($44,628 post-Social Security cost of living per year

Maine: 33 years ($45,048 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Washington: 33 years ($45,108 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Vermont: 33 years ($45,409 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

New Jersey: 33 years ($45,829 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

The capital statehouse of New Jersey lights up as the sun sets the Delaware River in the background city of Trenton (iStock)

Alaska: 29 years ($50,997 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

New York: 29 years ($50,997 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

California: 24 years ($63,795 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Massachusetts: 23 years ($65,117 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

Hawaii: 17 years ($87,770 post-Social Security cost of living per year)

THIS MIDWESTERN STATE IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO RETIRE, NEW STUDY SAYS: SEE THE LIST

Finance

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: WOOF, TSLA, CRCL, LULU

Published

1 day ago

June 6, 2025

Business Finance News

Finance

Swiss government proposes tough new capital rules in major blow to UBS

Published

1 day ago

June 6, 2025

Business Finance News

A sign in German that reads “part of the UBS group” in Basel on May 5, 2025.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

The Swiss government on Friday proposed strict new capital rules that would require banking giant UBS to hold an additional $26 billion in core capital, following its 2023 takeover of stricken rival Credit Suisse.

The measures would also mean that UBS will need to fully capitalize its foreign units and carry out fewer share buybacks.

“The rise in the going-concern requirement needs to be met with up to USD 26 billion of CET1 capital, to allow the AT1 bond holdings to be reduced by around USD 8 billion,” the government said in a Friday statement, referring to UBS’ holding of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds.

The Swiss National Bank said it supported the measures from the government as they will “significantly strengthen” UBS’ resilience.

“As well as reducing the likelihood of a large systemically important bank such as UBS getting into financial distress, this measure also increases a bank’s room for manoeuvre to stabilise itself in a crisis through its own efforts. This makes it less likely that UBS has to be bailed out by the government in the event of a crisis,” SNB said in a Friday statement.

‘Too big to fail’

UBS has been battling the specter of tighter capital rules since acquiring the country’s second-largest bank at a cut-price following years of strategic errors, mismanagement and scandals at Credit Suisse.

The shock demise of the banking giant also brought Swiss financial regulator FINMA under fire for its perceived scarce supervision of the bank and the ultimate timing of its intervention.

Swiss regulators argue that UBS must have stronger capital requirements to safeguard the national economy and financial system, given the bank’s balance topped $1.7 trillion in 2023, roughly double the projected Swiss economic output of last year. UBS insists it is not “too big to fail” and that the additional capital requirements — set to drain its cash liquidity — will impact the bank’s competitiveness.

At the heart of the standoff are pressing concerns over UBS’ ability to buffer any prospective losses at its foreign units, where it has, until now, had the duty to back 60% of capital with capital at the parent bank.

Higher capital requirements can whittle down a bank’s balance sheet and credit supply by bolstering a lender’s funding costs and choking off their willingness to lend — as well as waning their appetite for risk. For shareholders, of note will be the potential impact on discretionary funds available for distribution, including dividends, share buybacks and bonus payments.

“While winding down Credit Suisse’s legacy businesses should free up capital and reduce costs for UBS, much of these gains could be absorbed by stricter regulatory demands,” Johann Scholtz, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said in a note preceding the FINMA announcement.

“Such measures may place UBS’s capital requirements well above those faced by rivals in the United States, putting pressure on returns and reducing prospects for narrowing its long-term valuation gap. Even its long-standing premium rating relative to the European banking sector has recently evaporated.”