Along with other gloomy economic news, the standing of the U.S. regarding retirement is also losing ground. In fact, Western Europe has us beat when it comes to retirement security—and that doesn't look likely to change any time soon.

That's among the findings of the seventh issue of the Natixis Global Retirement Index, which reports that the U.S., which didn't even make the top 10, has not only slipped down two places in the standings—to 18th out of the 44 most developed countries and economies surveyed globally. In addition, the U.S. either stayed the same or lost ground in all four of the subindices: health, well-being, finances and quality of life. Each country was evaluated for 18 critical factors in those four subindices, and the shakeout was revealing.

Meanwhile, further threats to retirement security await: low interest rates, long lifespans and the high cost of climate change. These global risks, says the report, are "weighing on retirees, policymakers and long-term global sustainability."