The world is getting older – policy needs to be wiser

Retirement security is challenged on many fronts across the globe. Slow growth, low interest rates, and the looming threat of inflation stretch the economics of retirement funding. Debates about the viability of entitlement programs, the prioritization of short-term goals for lower taxes, and deficit reductions over ensuring long-term sustainability of retirement benefits make the politics of retirement contentious. While the perpetual shifting of funding responsibility to the individual is changing the mechanics of retirement.

Above all other issues, one factor holds the greatest sway over retirement security: demographics. Simply put, the world is getting older. Today, there are more individuals age 65 and older than ever before and these 600 million individuals are placing pressures on established retirement systems.

The 2017 Natixis Global Retirement Index provides an in-depth look at how these trends are impacting the investment strategies of institutions and how employers and individuals can do their part to achieve improved retirement security.