Monday, 24 January 2011

Retirement Ages Around the World

By Rebecca T Lescott


Retirement age used to be higher than it presently is. However, there are a number of countries now reconsidering whether or not that was the correct move by putting some thought into reverting it back. This is because our ability to cure many more medical conditions is leading to a globally ageing population and higher life expectancy.

In 1949, the average retirement age around the world 64.3 for men but by 1994, it had decreased to 62.5. Those figures were drawn from a study of retirement ages in thirty different countries. The age for private-sector workers to draw full retirement benefits from the national pension scheme is 63. However, that is set to increase with legislation already in place.

Life expectancy is a huge factor when setting retirement age and thanks to science, this is a rising statistic. The figure lied at 13.4 years after retirement in 1958 and had reached 18.5 by 2010. A further increase with a figure of 20.3 years is expected.

Turkey has the lowest retirement age. It was already low at 60 but that has now been abolished in favour of a new system which sees those eligible for retirement after they have contributed 25 years of work. So, if they have worked from 20 to 45, they are eligible for a full pension. Next on the list is Greece which has a retirement age of 57. Since 1959, that figure has only increased by 2 years. There lies a number of countries with a retirement age of 60 such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Korea and Hungary. France has retirement at 60.5.

The oldest retirement age lies in Iceland and Norway at 67. Denmark is set to adopt the same figure in 2030 and Italy, 65 in the same year with legislation in place for both of those changed to occur. Third is the US, just one year behind with 66. The UK is the country with who have the oldest projected retirement age by 2050 at 68 years old.




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