Why the U.S. gets no medals for retirement

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-the-us-gets-no-medals-for-retirement/

By/Steve Vernon/MoneyWatch/March 12, 2014

American exceptionalism -- the concept that we're qualitatively different from other nations -- certainly doesn't hold up in the area of retirement, according to two recent studies that compare the U.S. retirement system to those of other countries.

The Melbourne Mercer Global 2013 Pension Index ranks the U.S. 11th out of 20 countries, while the Natixis 2014 Global Retirement Index ranks the U.S. 19th among 150 nations. In both studies, America ranked behind most Western European nations, Australia and Canada. Prior surveys have produced a similar result.

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According to Melbourne Mercer, these are the top 10 countries:

1.Denmark
2.Netherlands
3.Australia
4.Switzerland
5.Sweden
6.Canada
7.Singapore
8.Chile
9.U.K.
10.Germany

The U.S. retirement system landed a C grade overall, defined as a "system that has some good features but also has major risks and/or shortcomings that should be addressed. Without these improvements, its efficacy and/or long-term sustainability can be questioned."

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The Natixis Global Retirement Index examines 20 key trends across four broad categories: health and health care quality, personal income and finances, quality of life and socio-economic factors. Together these factors provide a measure of the life conditions and well-being expected by retirees and near-retirees.

According to Natixis, these are the top 10 countries:

1.Switzerland
2.Norway
3.Austria
4.Sweden
5.Australia
6.Denmark
7.Germany
8.Finland
9.New Zealand
10.Luxembourg

Factors that kept the U.S. out of this group included the high cost of health care, life expectancy that's lower than that of other developed nations, a high degree of income inequality, the level of government debt and the fact that only about half of all U.S. workers are covered by any retirement plan at work.

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