No Country for Old Men – French Index Says India Worst for Retirement Now

Plan your retirement well in advance. You cannot take chances with that in India. It is not the best place to retire. And, it’s the worst among BRIC countries. In a global retirement index of 43 countries, India has ranked the lowest.

The index by French asset management company Natixis Global, ranks countries on the basis of four factors — the material means to live comfortably in retirement; access to quality financial services to help preserve savings value and maximize income; access to quality health services; and a clean and safe environment.

On all four, India has ranked the lowest. Switzerland, Norway and Iceland topped the ranking.

The index ranks 43 countries which include International Monetary Fund (IMF) advanced economies, members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

India ranks 43rd in this year’s GRI and has the same score compared to last year but its sub-indices all rank in the bottom five.

Of course, the index ranks mostly advanced economies, not comparable to India. But India also ranks the lowest among the BRIC economies.

Below is how India has performed on the fours factors in the index:

Compared to last year’s report, India declines in the Material Well-being (41st) and Health (43rd) sub-indices but gains ground in Finances (39th) and Quality of Life (43rd).

Despite finishing third to last for the Material Wellbeing sub-index, India actually has a top five finish by having the third-highest score for the employment indicator.

However, it has the lowest income per capita of all countries in the GRI. Additionally, its score for the income equality indicator declines compared to last year’s report.

For the second year in a row, India ranks last in the Health sub-index and its score declines even more from last year.

India’s largest sub-index improvement is in finances and it moves up three spots from its ranking last year. However, India still has the fifth-worst sub-index score of any country in the GRI. The main reason for the improvement is better scores in the interest rate, inflation and governance indicators.

It also finishes first in old-age dependency, second in tax pressure and sixth in interest rates. Counterbalancing the high scores in these sub-indices is the governance indicator which, despite improving from last year, ranks as the fifth worst among all countries in the GRI.

It also has the tenth-lowest score for the bank non-performing loans indicator. India places last in the Quality of Life sub-index for the second year in a row.

Progress in CO2 emissions per GDP improves India’s environmental factors indicator. However, the country still has the worst scores for happiness, water and sanitation, and air quality as well as the second-worst score for biodiversity and habitat among all GRI countries.

Source: ET