Switzerland has fallen one place in the Natixis Investment Managers Global Retirement Index, dropping to fourth amid growing pressure on pension systems from inflation, record government debt and aging populations, according to the annual report released Tuesday.
Norway retained the top spot for the second consecutive year, with Ireland in second. Both were the only countries to score consistently high across all four assessed dimensions: retirement financial security, wellbeing, health, and quality of life.
The index, compiled with support from CoreData Research, evaluated 44 countries using 18 indicators covering everything from post-retirement financial standing to healthcare quality, financial-services-sector development, climate and government governance.
Globally, rising living costs are leaving households with less room to save, while elevated state borrowing limits governments' ability to support retirees. An expanding cohort of older citizens drawing public pensions is colliding with a shrinking workforce funding them, compounding the strain on pay-as-you-go systems.
"Many of today's challenges in the area of retirement stem from uncertainties around pension systems built on assumptions from the 20th century," Natixis said in a statement. "People work differently today, live longer and bear a larger share of responsibility for financing their own retirement."
The concern is significant: 43 percent of retail investors worldwide believe something akin to a miracle is needed to achieve retirement security, and a third of wealthy investors share that view, the report found.
David Goodsell, executive director of the Natixis Center for Investor Insight, said policymakers face the challenge of helping people move "from saving for retirement to actually investing for retirement." He added that retirement plans need to "outperform inflation" to remain viable.
Among the top 10, Iceland suffered the largest decline, falling five places to ninth, primarily due to a drop in material prosperity linked to higher unemployment. The Netherlands rose three spots to third, while Switzerland slipped one place to fourth. Australia moved up one position to sixth.
The United States dropped three places to 24th, edging ahead of Japan. Goodsell pointed to aging demographics and public-debt burdens weighing on both countries. The U.S. performed well on quality-of-life indicators but lost ground in retirement-financial-security metrics.
"This notion of growing national debt is starting to unsettle people," Goodsell said. "They fear their benefits will be cut in the future because debts are becoming so high."
