Retirement ranking

 I always keep my eyes out for information on all things “retirement” related and this week there was a global ranking of the top countries for retirement and the U.S. slipped two places in this year’s analysis from No. 18 in 2022 to No. 20. The top nation for retirement security is Norway, followed by Switzerland and Iceland. America’s high inflation and rising government indebtedness, lowered life expectancy, due to COVID and rising overdose and gun-related deaths are criteria for the ranking around 20 in regard to retirement security. At the same time, more Americans are expressing increased anxiety about retirement, with 47% saying it would "take a miracle" for them to achieve retirement security, up 6 percentage points from 2021. Inflation has been the big driver of uncertainty even as inflation has dropped some in the last 6 months or so. The global index of retirement security ranks nations based on four areas: health, quality of life, finances in retirement and material well-being. Norway, which the firm called a "standout performer," ranked first in health and fourth in quality of life. Life expectancy rose in Norway, in contrast to the U.S.' decline. The U.S. ranked 25th for health in the current survey, down from 17th in the prior year. A director of the analysis says, if you look at the top performers, they tend to be smaller countries. It's easier for a smaller country to get consensus on a lot of the issues, say, like health care, compared with larger countries like the U.S. yoursafemoneyshow.com.