Ready to retire? Tri-Cities is the most affordable spot in Washington, study says

You’ve been socking away money in your 401(k) and/or IRA, hoping to retire someday. Where could you go where that money would last the longest?

If you live in Washington, the east side is your best bet, starting with the Tri-Cities.

SmartAsset, a New York-based financial services company, examined the 2018 cost of living in 268 cities in the United States to determine just how long can a $1 million retirement fund would last in each place.

According to their report, the Tri-Cities is the best place to retire in Washington, followed by No. 2 Yakima, No. 3 Moses Lake and No. 4 Spokane.

A million-dollar nest egg will last 24.19 years in the Tri-Cities, according to SmartAsset.

The same nest egg would last 23.97 years in Yakima, 23.77 years in Moses Lake and 23.76 years in Spokane.

Olympia is the most affordable place in Western Washington — the $1 million lasts 21.77 years — just ahead of Tacoma (20.82).

The same next egg would last only 19.93 years in Bellingham, though that’s not as bad as Seattle (15.35), which ranked 264th out of the 268 cities studied.

In the Tri-Cities, retirees can expect to spend $9,099 annually for housing, $5,728 for food expenses, $6,994 for healthcare expenses, $3,502 for utilities and $7,999 for transportation expenses, says SmartAsset.

Nationwide, annual expenses were considerably lower — $9,090 for housing, $6,056 for food, $6,279 for healthcare expenses, $3,541 for utilities and $7,428 for transportation.

So where in the U.S. does that $1 million nest egg go the furthest?

SmartAsset says it’s McAllen, Texas, where it’ll last 33.03 years. Assuming you retire at age 65, your $1 million would last until you were 98 if you lived in that town on the U.S.-Mexico border.

New York City came in dead last.

A cool million in retirement savings would last just 10.54 years there, according to SmartAsset.

To conduct its study, SmartAsset collected Bureau of Labor Statistics data on seniors’ average annual expenditures nationwide and applied cost of living data from the Council for Community and Economic research to adjust the figures for each city included.

The study does not factor in outside incomes, such as Social Security, pensions or inheritances and assumes that the $1 million grows at a rate of 2 percent.

McAllen also came in first place in SmartAsset’s 2017 study, though $1 million in retirement was then expected to last 42.29 years.

Vincent Moleski of the Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.

This story was originally published February 1, 2019 at 6:57 PM.