Then there's the question of how much income a person actually has to replace.

Some experts come down firmly on the side of a 70–80 percent income replacement figure as being too much, thanks to all those vanishing workaday expenses—and also thanks to the financial industry's penchant for making money off retirement savings, as well as other reasons.

Others are just as determinedly in the camp of Not Enough, pointing to steadily escalating health care costs, as well as to the overall poor preparedness of the average American worker for retirement and the varying needs of individual families.

Bankrate hasn't opted to settle any of these arguments, nor has it adjusted for high or low incomes among retirees—so there's some room for variation in the results it obtained. How it did calculate the results was by dividing the median annual household income for those who are 65 and older by the median annual household income for those in their later working years, between ages 45 and 64.

"The resulting ratios of preretirement income that seniors are replacing," it said, "range from a high of 72.59 percent in Hawaii to a low of 48.22 percent in Massachusetts. The national average is 60.27 percent." So either way you look at it, retirees are probably in trouble.

Here are the 10 states in which Bankrate said retirement incomes fall shortest.

10. New York

New Yorkers aged 45–64 make a median annual income of $70,076—and even that doesn't sound like much when you consider the cost of housing in Manhattan.

Still, seniors don't do anywhere near that well, just bringing home 56.05 percent of that figure and having to make $39,278 last for a whole year.

9. Rhode Island

Rhode Islanders take home a median of $68,843 while they're still in that 45–64 age group. Older folks, not so much; just 55.77 percent of that, totaling $38,391.

8. Wisconsin

In another state with a lower median income for workers, Wisconsinites aged 45–64 take home $65,665 while retirees stretch $36,606 over the course of the year—just 55.75 percent of what they might have made while on the job.

7. Pennsylvania

The median annual income for workers aged 45–64 is considerably lower here, at $65,822, setting the bar lower for income replacement. But seniors just manage to replace 55.32 percent of that lower figure, leaving them with a median of $36,415 for the year.

6. New Hampshire

Workers here aged 45–64 earn a median income of $79,256, while retirees get by on 54.34 percent of that: a total of $43,069 per year. Hope they're good at budgeting.

5. Connecticut

In Connecticut, the median annual income for folks aged 45–64 is $86,666. Retirees, on the other hand, have a median annual income of just $46,216.

While that amounts to 53.33 percent of the median working income, the expenses connected with living in the state don't automatically halve themselves upon retirement.

4. Minnesota

Workers aged 45–64 have a median income of $75,500, but seniors can only scrape together a little more than half of that, at $40,041—just 53.03 percent of an active worker's median income.

They may need to round out the grocery bill by fishing in one of the state's 10,000 lakes.

3. New Jersey

Workers between the ages of 45–64 bring home a median income of $88,866, but seniors—who probably need more money for the high cost of health care—only replace 51.95 percent, coming up with a median annual income of $46,170.

2. North Dakota

The replacement percentage here is 48.99 percent of working incomes.

The median household income for those in that 45–64 age range is $75,931, but the poor seniors only manage to come up with $37,196. While the state has a lower cost of living than Massachusetts, that's still a small income to get by on.

1. Massachusetts

At the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, is Massachusetts, in which seniors only manage to replace 48.22 percent of their working income in retirement.

The median household income in the state for workers ages 45–64 is $86,036, but the median household income for seniors 65 and older is only $41,489.