The retirement ages for men and women vary widely across countries. In this post let us take a look at the ages differences between countries. But before we get to that, here is a brief introduction on retirement.
Germany was the first country in the world to implement an old age social insurance program back in 1889. German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was the architect of this system and the retirement age was set at 70. Later it was reduced to 65 in 1916. In this perspective, Germany was far advanced in thinking about taking care of its senior citizens than over developed countries. The US followed Germany’s lead with its own social security system over four decades after Germany in 1935 with the retirement age set at 65. Other countries soon followed.
Today the retirement age varies between 57 and 65 globally depending on the country as shown in the charts below:
Click to enlarge
Source: Chartsbin.com via Equities and Income in an Ageing World — Why Dividends Matter, Nikko Asset Management Asia Limited
In the chart above, lighter colored countries have lower retirement ages while darker colored countries have higher retirement ages.
From an investment point of view, it is important to plan for retirement early and invest as much as possible in younger ages.
