Americans concede that their retirement options have turned into a more challenging mix of dwindling resources and self-directed schemes, but how do they compare to the retirement plans from other major industrialized countries?
The San Francisco Examiner compared and contrasted the standard national retirement systems and rules in seven different nations, and found a mix of well-prepared and equally struggling participants around the world.
In the U.K., recent changes have meant the end of forced retirement at 65 and many workers, like their American contemporaries, are working longer – though the government is also trying to increase the State Pension age to 67 in a little more than a decade. British retirees have, on average, savings of about $84,000, and those who've used financial planners have an average of at least $196,000.
Recommended For You
In Malaysia, public sector employees face compulsory retirement at age 56 and employees can retire at age 40, provided they've worked at least a decade. A nationalized retirement savings plan is mandatory for all private-sector employees.
Australians who qualify take part in the Age Pension plan, which begins at age 65; the country's mandatory retirement system requires employees to put 9 percent of their annual earnings into a hybrid 401(k)-style program called a superannuation account. Recent research found that pre-retiree women's accounts averaged $54,500 while men's were approximately $113,000.
Largely socialized Canada has several systems but the qualification ages have recently raised from 65 to 67 for the Old Age Security benefit plan, funded through the country's public pension system. There's also a separate program for low-income seniors. Approximately $33.9 billion in contributions were made to the country's registered retirement savings plans, a 401(k)-styled system.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
