Congratulations, mountain mamas! West Virginia tops retirement survey

New River Gorge Bridge overlooking the river in autumn

12.5% of West Virginians say they are 'very satisfied' with their current nest eggs.

Country roads, take me home, to the retirement where I belong.

With 14.8% of respondents in West Virginia reporting having between $100,001 and $500,000 in retirement savings, and 12.5% saying they are “very satisfied” with their current nest eggs, West Virginia currently ranks as the state most prepared for retirement, according to a new Forex.com report.

Meanwhile, Alaska, Idaho and Wyoming ranked at the bottom of the study, with respondents in those states feeling “not at all satisfied” with their current retirement savings.

The Forex.com study comes on the heels of a 2023 survey by Schwab Retirement Plan Services that showed that the average American worker thinks they need $1.8 million to retire comfortably. Unfortunately, the average amount that most Americans between the ages of 55 and 65 have saved is $256,200, according to a 2022 Vanguard survey.

Aside from highlighting individual state retirement satisfaction results, the Forex.com study showed that more than half (55.70%) of Americans haven’t started saving for their retirement, even though over a third (33%) believe they would need between $100,001 and $500,000 to retire comfortably in the future.

Daniel Lash, certified financial planner at VLP Financial Advisors, said the only reason he can think of for why people are not saving is that it is “easier for them to do nothing than it is to do something.”

“Life just gets busy and takes priority and before they know it, years have passed by and they are still not saving for retirement either in a IRA, Roth or 401k plan,” Lash said.

Furthermore, over two-thirds of Americans (68.8%) are not at all satisfied with their current retirement savings, with less than 1 in 20 feeling satisfied (4.9%), according to the study.

Laurie Humphrey, financial advisor at Granite Financial, part of Osaic, said that saving – or not saving – for retirement is an intentional choice, and “analysis paralysis” regarding how to save likely plays into that. People don’t know how much to save or where to put those savings, and question whether they’re “doing the right thing.”

“Even starting small and systematically increasing how much you’re saving is a great start,” Humphrey said. “Working with an advisor that can help formulate a plan can help ease those concerns and may provide more confidence in retirement planning.”

As to how Americans are stocking up for their golden years, the study said more than a third (35%) are relying on real estate investments (18%) or stock investments (17%) as their primary source for retirement savings.

Brandon Dixon-James, president and wealth manager at Resilient Wealth Management, also part of Osaic, called these statistics disheartening, but not shocking.

“The sentiment overall that I hear and see is more of a short-term mindset, the focus being on enjoying life now rather than deferring until a later date,” Dixon-James said. “The disheartening part is that people aren’t aware of what they’ll actually need in retirement and haven’t taken the opportunity to really think it through. This is going to lead to a lot of disappointment and potential financial difficulties in retirement.”