When it comes to retirement security, the U.S. isn't keeping up with the Czech Republic, Iceland and a slew of other countries large and small.
The U.S., in fact, ranks just 19th of the 150 nations examined in producing the 2015 Natixis Global Retirement Index, which is based on an analysis of 20 trends across four categories of health, material well-being, finances and quality of life.
Perhaps not surprisingly, a number of European countries — where social welfare programs have a long history of taxpayer support – ranked better than the U.S.
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Switzerland leads the pack at No. 1, while the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden all made the top 10. Finland lagged behind the other Nordic countries, coming in at No. 13 (it was eighth last year).
On the other side of the globe, Australia and New Zealand were both in the top 10 this year, thanks at least in part to mandatory retirement savings programs. And Japan moved up from 27th to 17th after it put in place both fiscal reforms and healthcare improvements.
So where is the U.S. doing poorly? According to Natixis, a Paris- and Boston-based asset management firm, it's because of income inequality, fewer doctors and hospital beds — and lack of access to them — and the fact that the responsibility for financial security rests squarely on the shoulders of individual workers.
That may help explain why the U.S. ranked 19th for the third consecutive year, despite the economic recovery.
Quality of life in the U.S. didn't help, either. In fact, the U.S. lost ground on that score, falling from 24th to 25th. That was thanks to the nation's failure to act more aggressively on environmental issues, including our high production of CO2 emissions, Natixis said.
Material well-being wasn't one of our prouder moments, either, since we moved down from 36th to 37th. We might have one of the world's highest income levels, but our problem with income inequality means that fewer people here have access to goods and services than retirees in other countries.
The fact that the U.S. population is aging and living longer isn't expected to help in future rankings. The proportion of the U.S. population over the age of 65 is expected to rise from 13 percent in 2010 to 21 percent in 2050. As a result, there will be fewer workers to pay for social welfare programs such as Medicare and Social Security that serve older Americans.
On the plus side, the index found that a growing economy coupled with increasing employment and low inflation are helping to protect what savings retirees have managed to put together.
The top 20 nations, along with their standing in last year's study, were:
1. Switzerland (No. 1 in 2014)
2. Norway (2)
3. Australia (5)
4. Iceland (11)
5. Netherlands (13)
6. Sweden (4)
7. Denmark (6)
8. Austria (3)
9. Germany (7)
10. New Zealand (9)
11. Luxembourg (10)
12. Canada (14)
13. Finland (8)
14. Korea, Rep. (17)
15. Czech Republic (16)
16. Belgium (12)
17. Japan (27)
18. France (15)
19. United States (19)
20. Slovenia (21)
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