Forbes has published an article, “American Elders Are Short-Changed 5 Years Of Healthy Retirement”, which discusses the gap in healthy retirement between American elders and elders of comparable wealthy nations. The article begins as follows:
America’s elders die sooner and are sicker than their counterparts in other rich nations. American elders also must work longer than their cohort abroad. These trends mean that Americans get fewer years of healthy retirement life than elders in comparable wealthy nations—five years less, in fact.
One reason for this big gap in healthy retirement is the pressure for American elders to work longer. Among major rich nations, Americans work longer than anyone except the Japanese, who retire at age 67.9 while Americans work until age 65 on average; but the Japanese live longer, so experience more healthy retirement time.
By comparison, as measured by what the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) calls “the effective retirement age,” the British retire at age 63.5, Canadians at 63.2, Germans at 61.9, and Italians even younger at 60.8. The French win this joie de vivre contest, ending their working years at age 59.9 on average (President Macron may lose his reelection bid because he talks of raising the retirement age to 70).
Posted by Anthony Tran, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal
Wealth Strategies Journal 