Australia ranks 7th on global retirement index

September 16 2021
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Australia occupies the seventh place on the Natixis Global Retirement Index, behind Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

Australia has maintained its seventh place ranking on the index, developed by Natixis Investment Managers and CoreData Research to evaluate the financial security of retirees across 44 countries.

With an overall score of 76 per cent, unchanged since 2018, Australia failed to scale the ladder mostly due to its underperformance in regard to material wellbeing, which looks at things like income equality, income per capita and unemployment.

According to the report, Australia’s ranked particularly well in two areas — fourth in finances for retirement and 10th for health — while it was ranked in the top 16 countries for quality of life. Conversely, scores for the bank non-performing loans, interest rates, old-age dependency and government indebtedness indicators all dropped compared to a year earlier.

However, Natixis noted that the overall ranking hides an alarming admission by Australian investors earlier this year that four in 10 agree “it is going to take a miracle to retire securely”, a statistic consistent with global investors.

Natixis derived its results based on a survey of 400 Australian investors, 19 per cent of whom were classified as high net worth with more than $1 million in net investable assets, with a further 22 per cent classified as emerging high net worth with US$500,000 to $1 million in net investable assets.

Yet despite this representation, 35 per cent of Australian investors told Natixis they were worried retirement would not be an option and 31 per cent agreed they would never have enough money to retire.

Noting that while some may argue this could be part of the COVID-19 mindset, 62 per cent of Australian investors said they did not suffer from loss of job, income or setback in financial security due to COVID compared with 54 per cent of their global counterparts. Further, only 5.5 per cent of Australian investors said they were forced to take a withdrawal from their super fund.

Commenting on the findings, country head for Natixis IM, Australia and New Zealand Louise Watson said: “While 61 per cent of investors accept they will have to work longer than anticipated, other factors may prevent this from being possible.

“The survey also highlights the need for investors at all levels of wealth to engage with their retirement. Working with their superannuation fund and a financial adviser who can tailor an investment portfolio to their needs and goals can highlight strategies investors may not have considered.”

About the author

Maja Garaca Djurdjevic

Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is the editor of nestegg and Smart Property Investment. Email Maja at [email protected]

About the author

Maja Garaca Djurdjevic

Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is the editor of nestegg and Smart Property Investment. Email Maja at [email protected]

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