State robbery hurts your life’s savings? (4,6)

I believe the answer is:

high stakes

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'your life's savings?' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'state robbery hurts' is the wordplay.
'state' becomes 'high' (high is a kind of state).
'robbery hurts' becomes 'stakes' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'high'+'stakes'='HIGH-STAKES'

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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