Only the lonely: Individuals increasingly feel they’re on their own for retirement security
Despite positive progress for many countries in the Global Retirement Index (GRI), retirement security remains on shaky ground in 2024. More and more individuals across the globe are realizing that they’re on their own when it comes to funding their retirement.
Results from the long-running Natixis Global Survey of Individual Investors reveal that the number of people who say it’s increasingly their responsibility to fund retirement on their own—rather than relying on public and private pensions—has grown from 67%1 to 81%2 between 2015 and 2023.
During that time, investors have felt their anxiety increase as long-term trends such as the shift from defined benefit pensions to defined contribution plans and a rapidly increasingly bill for public debt met short-term shocks such as Covid, inflation, and market volatility. In the end, their isolation is leading many to despair about their chances of achieving retirement security.
When it comes down to it, one in five (19%) investors said that even if they saved $1 million, they still couldn’t afford to retire – that includes 18% of those who have already accumulated $1 million.2
This year’s report takes a deep dive into the critical issues driving global retirement security – and reveals the top countries for retirement security around the world.
Top 10 countries
Switzerland overtakes Norway for first place, with a score of 82%, bumping Norway to second place. Iceland and Ireland take third and fourth, respectively. The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Australia follow closely behind, all finishing within the top seven rankings as they did last year. Germany, Denmark, and New Zealand finish off the top ten, with New Zealand having the most significant change in the best performing countries, dipping two places to tenth overall.
