How Long Does $1M Last in Retirement? Montana’s Cost May Surprise You

Being able to retire from a job and not have to work again is the dream for many people. Retirement planning depends on a lot of factors, including where a person lives. There are some states where a person's money goes further than others.

Montana isn't one of the best states if you want your money to last. According to a report from GoBankingRates.com, the study examined how far $1,000,000 and Social Security payments will last a person in each state.

They ranked states from the most expensive to the least expensive, depending on how many years the amount of money will last an average person. Montana ranks as the 16th most expensive state for retiring with this criteria.

The report calculates that $1,000,000 plus Social Security payments would last an average Montanan 31.59 years. Hawaii is the most expensive state where the same amount of money would only last 12.48 years. The next most expensive states are:

• California - 16.29 years
• Massachusetts - 19.35 years
• Washington - 21.92 years
• New Jersey - 24.20 years

The most affordable state is West Virginia where the same amount of money would last for 88.79 years. Followed by:

• Mississippi - 87.16 years
• Arkansas - 76.93 years
• Louisiana - 76.54 years
• Oklahoma - 71.18 years

Of course the key to all of this is to start your retirement with a $1,000,000. If you were to retire at the age of 65 in West Virginia, you would be able to live until age 153 until finally running out of money. In Montana you would be able to live to be 96 and in Hawaii you would run out of money at the age of 77.

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With numbers like this, it looks like it is going to be a long time before I will be able to call it a career and retire here in Montana.