Americans face vastly different retirement costs across states as Social Security cuts loom

Retirement remains top of mind for many Americans, whether they are approaching their so-called “golden years” or have many years to go before leaving the workforce. How much money a person needs to have saved to retire without financial stress is an important consideration in the retirement preparation process, and that can vary depending on various factors, including where someone intends to live and their retirement income sources.A study released this week by GOBankingRates calculated the amount of money that a “comfortable” retirement would require without income from Social Security factored in and the associated yearly expenses a retiree would face in each U.S.state.The analysis comes as Social Security, a common source of retirement income, is looking at potential financing issues with its trust funds in the future.

The trustees for Social Security and Medicare recently found that if Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance trust funds were combined, the trust funds would be able to pay 100% of scheduled benefits until 2034, one year earlier than reported last year.After that, the trust funds would be able to pay only 81% of scheduled benefits, meaning Social Security recipients would see a mandatory 19% cut automatically. For the GOBankingRates study, the benchmark for a “comfortable” retirement was a person holding twice the amount of money as the cost of living expenses.Hawaii tops the list of where the most savings would be necessary to retire “comfortably” at 60 years old without Social Security, while West Virginia, nicknamed the Mountain State, required the least, it said. GOBankingRates found the nest egg that a person would need to accommodate a comfortable retirement at 60 years old sans Social Security in each state.Alabama ($70,492 cost of living per year): $1,409,839 Alaska ($110,457 cost of living per year): $2,209,137Arizona ($100,281 cost of living per year): $2,005,627Arkans...