How much money you need to save and earn to retire in the world’s happiest cities

A new study by luxury retirement developer, Audley Villages, has analysed the happiest cities in the world to reveal the true correlation between wealth and a happy retirement.

The study reveals the average length of retirement and life expectancy, unveiling how much the cost of living really has to with the happiness level of your retirement.

Just how content are the world’s happiest retirees? Analysing the average savings needed by retirement in the top 10 happiest cities in the world, the study reveals you need to have R4.77 million ($293,791).

With a score of 7.8 it is no surprise that Helsinki, Finland’s capital, comes out as the happiest place to live out your retirement. Retirees would need R4.15 million ($254,412) saved up by the time they were 65.

Following closely with a happiness index of 7.6 are Copenhagen, in Denmark, and Geneva, in Switzerland.

Vienna, Austria is the cheapest city in the top 10 happiest cities, but you’ll still need R3.9 million ($239,507) in your pocket when you go on pension.

Methodology

In order to calculate the cost of retirement happiness Audley Villages took the happiest cities and countries  from the World Happiness Report, and analysed each city’s monthly living costs, average salary, and average life expectancy to calculate the average retirement savings required.

To calculate the best and worst cities for retirement, it ranked the best cities based on these factors in a scored ranking of each data column to reveal the best overall cities when analysing both happiness and cost related metrics.

Happy retirement

When taking into account not only the happiest but the most affordable places to retire around the world, Melbourne came in first with an overall score of 6.6 out of 10 as a happy retirement destination.

In Melbourne you’ll need R4.08 million ($250,829). Next is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where you’ll need R1.2 million ($77,796), followed by Helsinki, Sydney, and Dubai.

Moscow also ranks in at 10th place with a happiness score of 5.5 out of 10, but retirees here will only need about $63,852 in their piggy banks to a happy retirement in this capital city. London also ranks in at 17th place, with a score of 6.1 out of 10 residents here will need to earn at least $43,457 and save a minimum of $267,678 to make the most of retirement in the British English capital.

Looking at the other end of the table, Hong Kong is the worst place in which you can retire and you’ll still need R5.49 million ($336,469) in your piggy bank. Tokyo, Japan and Singapore came in second and third.

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