If You Have $250,000 Savings Going Into Retirement, Here's How Long You Could Live In Florida

Florida is widely recognized as one of the more favorable U.S. states to retire in. Outside of the year-round warm climate that has made places like Florida's 6th largest city of Port St. Lucie a haven for retirees, the tax benefits that come with retirement in the Sunshine State are another reason for its appeal. While it's relatively well-known that Florida has no state income tax, there also is no estate tax or tax on retirement income like that of pensions, 401k's, or social security benefits. Knowing this much, it's no wonder that so many retirees have chosen the sunshine state as their new home to spend the rest of their days.

At the same time, the weather and tax benefits don't come without a cost. As of 2024, Florida is officially the 9th-most expensive state to live in the entire country. This being said, it's no surprise that buying a house in Florida will certainly cost you quite a bit, not to mention the costs that potentially could come with damage from hurricanes alone. But all of this aside, how much would it actually cost you to retire in Florida comfortably? Let's take a look at the facts to see exactly how long you could live in the sunshine state with $250,000 in savings along with Social Security income.

Ultimately, whether or not you would be able to afford living in Florida is heavily dependent on where exactly you live in the state. Miami, for example, has a cost of living that is 19% higher than the national average, with housing alone a whopping 54% higher. On the other hand, the Floridian retirement haven of Port St. Lucie is 1.4% lower than the national average and 4.4% lower than the Florida average. Pensacola, which is located on the "pan handle" of the state, is 13% lower than the national average and 11% lower than the state average. At the same time, you also have places like Naples that, for a family, is a whopping 209.4% higher than the national average to live in.

As you can see, the affordability of the state varies greatly depending on in which city you reside. That being said, let's return to the initial question posed in the previous section. For practical reasons, if you decided to retire in one of the more affordable cities within the state with just $250,000 in savings and social security income, exactly how long would you be able to make that stretch?

If you decided to retire somewhere in Florida like Port St. Lucie with $250,000 and the average monthly Social Security check of $1,783.55, you would last approximately seven years in the American tropical paradise until you were pretty much out of funds. This is based on the average yearly spending in Florida which is somewhere in the range of $58,396. Now obviously if you were more frugal with your money you would be able to last a bit longer, but not by a whole lot. After all, if you were to try and get by spending only $30,000 a year, depending on what time in the future you plan on retiring, that might be kind of rough, but to each his own.

Overall, seeing as the average retirement age in the United States is 62, and per the CDC the average life expectancy of U.S. citizens is 77.5, $250,000 and the average social security check wouldn't be enough to make it from your age of retirement until death in the state of Florida. For that reason, if you're young and reading this now, it's important to start saving for your retirement early so that you don't find yourself in this predicament, even if that's only $5 per day.