Virginia
3 Reasons You Need at Least $741K (Plus Social Security) To Retire in Virginia
With its mild climate and friendly people, Virginia can be the perfect state to retire. But if you’re interested in doing that, you should know what it means financially. Data shows you need at least $741,000 saved to comfortably retire in the state.
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Here are three reasons and other financial facts you should know before retiring in Virginia.
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1. Virginia Is More Expensive Than Nearby States
It costs an average of $58,627 to live in Virginia per year. That’s meaningfully more than states like:
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West Virginia: $39,386
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Mississippi: $41,361
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Kentucky: $40,355
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Georgia: $52,556
Even small differences in living costs add up over 20 to 30 years of retirement. That’s why you may need to save six figures or more to retire in Virginia over another nearby state.
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2. Social Security Won’t Cover Everything
The average retired American receives around $36,251 yearly in Social Security income. But that’s across all states. Retired people in Virginia take home an average of $21,566.
This means, that if you receive an average Social Security paycheck, you’ll still be responsible for covering $37,060 in annual living costs. Now, multiply that figure by the number of years you want to cover in retirement.
A 20-year retirement, at $37,060 per year, adds up to just over $741,000. That figure increases to $926,500 for a 25-year retirement or about $1.1 million for a 30-year retirement. This is why you need a lot of retirement savings to stay in Virginia — even if you’re counting on Social Security.
3. Inflation May Increase Costs Over Time
Another factor to consider is that living costs go up over time, due to inflation. This means you may want to save even more for retirement in Virginia than you initially think.
For example, Virginia has seen cumulative inflation of 21.4% since January 2021. This has added about $1,142 in monthly costs to the average budget. If your retirement is still years away, these costs are likely to increase further before you get there.
How To Save Money While Retiring in Virginia
Although Virginia is far from the cheapest state to retire in, there are still ways to bring costs down. The key will be finding ways to spend less than the average Virginian on key expense categories.
For example, here’s what the average state resident currently spends on common annual expenses:
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Groceries: $4,825
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Housing: $12,346
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Utilities: $4,358
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Transportation: $4,577
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Healthcare: $7,675
You can reduce your annual retirement savings requirement by spending less in any of these categories. That’s just not always easy to do — especially as inflation continues. So here are a few additional tips.
Choose Your Retirement City Strategically
First, your retirement expenses vary quite a bit based on which part of Virginia you call home.
For example, Great Falls, Alexandria and Fairfax are among the richest and most expensive places in the state. Housing and other expenses are higher there than in the cheaper cities of Martinsville, Lynchburg and Portsmouth.
So if you want to retire for less in Virginia, pick a part of the state where that’s easier financially. Moving further away from the center of one of Virginia’s most expensive areas could be enough to reach your goals.
Supplement Your Retirement Income
If you feel like you can’t save enough for the retirement you want, maybe you can continue earning money after your career. This would reduce your annual retirement saving requirement by as much as you earn.
For instance, imagine you make $10,000 driving for a rideshare service. You could subtract that $10,000 from the $37,060 the average Virginian retiree spends out of pocket. You’d only use $27,060 of your savings that year. If you could do this for even five years of your early retirement, that may be enough to fix your financial issues.
There are plenty of ways to make extra money in retirement, including:
Try Another State
If you can’t find a way to make retiring in Virginia work financially, consider another state. Nearby West Virginia is one of the most affordable places to retire in the entire country.
There are also plenty of destinations throughout the South that are beautiful and affordable for retirees. You’ll just need to consider which fits your lifestyle preferences and budget while keeping you close to friends and family.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 3 Reasons You Need at Least $741K (Plus Social Security) To Retire in Virginia
SOUTH BOSTON, Va. (WSET) — A manufacturing company in South Boston is now in contact with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality after an oil spill this week.
A Hitachi Energy spokesperson says that because of heavy rainfall and a pump failure, a small amount of transformer mineral oil spilled.
The manufacturing company makes power transformers. The spokesperson told ABC 13 that an employee noticed oil in a secondary containment area.
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The company says the material was tested and found to be non-toxic. They say the oil stayed on company property with no harm to the community or environment.
ABC 13 reached out to the Department of Environmental Quality, and we are waiting to hear back.
New Virginia laws banning the sale and transfer of assault weapons go into effect in about five weeks. But at least five conservative prosecutors say they won’t enforce them.
Spotsylvania County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryan Mehaffey said he believes the laws violate the Constitution.
“The Second Amendment is alive and well in Spotsylvania County,” he told News4.
The commonwealth will ban the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic weapons, shifting gun laws to more closely align with states such as California and Illinois. But as Virginia teeters from purple to blue and back again, some elected officials are making clear that the new laws won’t be enforced in their counties.
Attorney General Jay Jones said in a statement: “Commonwealth’s Attorneys are elected to enforce our laws, which is what we expect them to do when these laws take effect on July 1.”
The law will make it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine for people to buy, sell, transfer, import, or manufacture an assault firearm.
Mehaffey said the law is in direct conflict with the Second Amendment.
“It’s fundamentally opposed to a free society, a society where liberty reigns. And this is the moment in time where the Second Amendment was drafted and enacted, where the government couldn’t take the right of the people to defend themselves away,” he said.
Eleven other states and D.C. already have versions of their own assault weapons ban. The details and laws vary and they’ve been challenged in the courts. In fact, several lawsuits have already been filed against Virginia’s new ban.
“Every assault weapons ban that has gone before a federal court in this country has been upheld, including, most importantly, Maryland’s,” said Mary Kenah of Everytown for Gun Safety.
She said Maryland’s ban is considered more restrictive than Virginia’s and was upheld by the same court that presides over Virginia. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up this case, so Maryland’s assault weapon ban remains in place.
“The people of Virginia showed that their priority is gun-violence prevention. They elected a former Moms Demand Action volunteer as their governor,” Kenah said.
In places such a Spotsylvania County, they’ve elected Mehaffey as their prosecutor. It’s a county that surprised a lot of people in November when it voted blue, in favor of Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Despite that shift, Mehaffey said he’s confident that his position against the new assault weapons ban is what his constituents want.
Other prosecutors who have said they won’t enforce Virginia’s assault weapons ban are from Powhatan, Pulaski, Scott and Smyth counties.
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