Louise Watson
For the first time in over a decade, individuals from nearly all developed countries in the Natixis Investment Managers Global Retirement Index (GRI) fear for their retirement security as a complicated economic environment, persistent inflation and ageing populations continue to weigh on retirement preparedness.
This year, Australia maintained its position in 7th and has ranked in the top ten for retirement security globally for more than a decade. The top five countries were Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, Iceland, and Denmark. The Netherlands was ranked sixth, followed by Australia, Germany, Luxembourg and Slovenia rounding out the top ten.
Regardless of Australia’s top ten spot, the data[1] shows 53% of Australians say it will take a miracle to retire securely, a 5% increase from 2023.
Created in collaboration with CoreData Research, and now in its 13th year, the GRI offers a global benchmark of what it takes to enjoy a healthy and secure retirement.
Louise Watson, Country Head of Australia and New Zealand at Natixis IM said: “Australia’s superannuation system is among the best globally and it has certainly played an integral role in Australia’s consistent top ten ranking for retirement security. Still, it’s concerning that Australians are fearful for their stability in retirement. Pressures from inflation, the cost of living and higher interest rates are undeniably crunching retirees’ wallets and increasing uncertainty on how much they can spend in retirement balances, and dreams. This serves as a reminder that investors need their money to work hard for them at all stages in life to make sure they’re getting the best possible outcome in retirement.
“To help Australians feel more confident about reaching their retirement goals, I want to emphasise the value of diversified, actively managed investment strategies tailored to their life stage, whether that’s focusing on growth during the accumulation phase or generating income in retirement. Striking the right balance, will better position investors for a modern retirement, to retire on their own terms and enjoy the lifestyle they’ve dreamed of.”
The key to maintaining a top ten ranking this year comes down to consistency across the sub-indices.
Rankings are relative, based on 18 performance measures across four sub-indices, Finances in Retirement, Material Wellbeing, Health, and Quality of Life, and scored from 0% to 100%. Beyond finances, it assesses factors such as healthcare access and cost, climate, governance, and overall population well-being.
As inflation, rising debt and low interest rates continue to disrupt long-term outcomes, just three countries (Ireland, Switzerland and Australia) finish in the top ten in Finances in Retirement.
Overall, Australia experienced a slight decline in finances in retirement, but improved, or remained steady, across health, quality of life, and material wellbeing:
- 5th for Finances in Retirement (compared to 3rd in 2024, and 3rd in 2015)
- 6th for Health (7th in 2024, and 11th in 2015)
- 13th for Quality of Life (13th in 2024, and 13th in 2015)
- 15th for Material Wellbeing (compared to 16th in 2024, and 13th in 2015)
Key risks to retirement security in 2025
One of the issues hampering Australian’s retirement stability was over-estimating how much time they had to build their retirement nest egg.
The data[1] showed that Australian respondents on average planned to retire at 66, but more often than not retired much earlier at 60.
Other key factors include:
- Inflation: Sticky inflation continues to erode retirement savings. According to the 2025 Natixis Survey of Individual Investors, 4 out of 5 Australians say they are saving less as they grapple with higher costs for medicine, utilities and groceries, 68% say inflation has reduced the future value of their retirement funds, and 32% say it is “killing” their retirement dreams.
- Savings Responsibility: Inflation concerns cut deep but so do fears of failure, as one third of Australians worry they’ll never save enough for retirement and 77% acknowledge that funding retirement increasingly falls on their shoulders.
- Pension Pressure: Rising public debt and ageing populations are straining national retirement systems. Seven in ten Australians agree increasing levels of public debt in my country will result in reduced public retirement benefits in the future.
- Population Ageing: Longer lifespans and ageing populations are creating an increasing problem of old age dependency. In OECD countries, the median ratio of people aged 65+ to working-age adults is projected to rise from 32.5% in 2024 to 59.3% by 2050.
- Retirement goals: how much do I need to retire?
Australia was among the most ambitious aiming to save $1.25 million for retirement along with Singapore and the United States.
Australia’s ambition is spurred by individual investors’ fears they’ll go broke trying to cover healthcare and long-term care costs (34%), concerns they’ll outlive their assets (25%), and worrying they won’t have enough to leave their kids (25%).
While those in Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan call for a more conservative median of $850,000, and the least ambitious savings goals in Luxembourg, France, and Germany, at $350,000 due to the generous government benefits and employer subsidies.
Meanwhile, the average current retirement balance across this group of more than 7000 investors was $250,000.
Despite these ambitious retirement goals in mind, only a third of Australian investors were more willing to experiment with a diverse range of asset classes with higher earnings potential such as private assets and cryptocurrencies.
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