Retirement Ages by Country 2021: Chart

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The Retirement Age varies between countries. The general retirement age in the European Union is 65. In Spain, France and Germany the retirement age is set to increase to 67 years from 65 according to an article at The Finnish Center for Pensions. Some countries have different retirement  ages for  men and women. For instance, in Switzerland the retirement ages for men and women are 65 and 64 respectively while in Russia, it is 61.5 years and 56.5 years respectively. In the US, both men and women have a retirement age of 66 years and 2 months.

The chart below shows the retirement age in select countries:

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Source: Retirement Ages, The Finnish Center for Pensions

The Current Retirement Ages (2021):

Current general retirement age (2021)Future retirement age
EU Men/ WomenRetirement age or men/women
Austria (AT)65 / 60 years 65 years (2033)
Belgium (BE)65 years 67 years (2030)
Bulgaria (BG)66 years and 8 months 67 years (2023)
Croatia (HR)65 / 62 years 69 months 67 years (2033)
Cyprus (CY)65 years65+ years (2023)
Czech (CZ)63 years and 10 months65 years (2036)
Denmark (DK)67 years; 66 years 6 months*67 years (2022); 68+ years (2030)
Estonia (EE)64 years65 years (2026)
68+ (2027)
Finland (FI)63 years 9 months – 68 years; 65 years*65+ years (2027); 65+ (2030)
 France (FR)66 years and 7 months 67 years  (2023)
Germany (DE)65 years and 9 months 67 (2031)
Great Britain (GBR)66 years68 (2046)
Greece (EL)67 years67+ years (2021)
Hungary (HU)65 years–
Ireland (IE)66 years68 years (2028)
Italy (IT)67 years67+ years (2022)
Latvia (LV)64 years 65 years (2025)
Lithuania (LT)64 years 2 months / 63 years 4 months 65 years (2026)
Luxembourg (LU) 65 years –
Malta (MT) 63 years 65 years (2027)
Netherlands (NL) 66 years 4 months 67+ years (2025)
Poland (PL) 65 years / 60 years –
Portugal (PT) 66 years and 6 months 66+ years (2016)
Romania (RO) 65 years / 61 years 6 –9 months -/63 years (2030)
Slovakia (SK) 62 years and 8–10 months 64 years (2030)
Slovenia (SI) 65 years –
Spain (ES) 66 years 67 years (2027)
Sweden (SE)62-68 years; 65 years*63-69 (2023),  63+ (2026); 66 (2023), 66+ (2026)
Other countries Men / Women Retirement age or men/women
Australia 58 years; 66 years 6 months*60 years (2024); 67 years (2023)*
Canada (CA) 65 years –
Iceland (IS) 67  years
Japan (JP)63 years / 61 years; 65*65 years (2025) / 65 years (2030); –
Norway (NO)62–75 years; 67 years* –
Russia (RU)61 years and 6 months / 56 years and 6 months65 years (2028); 60 (2028)
Switzerland (CH) 65 years / 64 years –
USA (US) 66 years 2 months 67 years (2027)
* FI, SE, DK, NO, AU and JP: the retirement age of the earnings-related pension has been separated from that of the national pension with a semicolon. GP= Government proposal or plan of equivalent administrative level+ = Retirement age rising along with the increasing life expectancy.

Note: The table lists first the earnings-related retirement age, then the national retirement age if it deviates from the first. Men’s and women’s retirement ages are also listed,  if they differ from each other.

Update (11/17/23):

Latest version:

1.Minimum Standard Retirement Age for Select Countries as of Jan 2023:

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Source: France Enjoys Comparably Low Retirement Age, Statista

2. Ranked: The Best Countries to Retire in Around the World

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Source: WEF

3.Global Retirement Ages:

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Source: How UK state pension age compares to retirement ages in other countries around the world, Express

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Asset Class Returns Quilt From 2006 To 2020: Chart

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Following our theme of reviewing asset class returns over the years and the importance of diversification, the following is another chart showing the annual returns and average returns from 2006 to 2020. Commodities have never been the best performer since 2006. Similarly the best return for emerging equities was all the way back in 2009 when it topped over 79%. Since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09 emerging markets were mostly average or poor performers.

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Note: The returns shown above are price returns (i.e. excluding dividends)

Source: Boyd Wealth Management

Market Leadership Changes From 2001 To 2020: Chart

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One of the key factors for success with investing in equities is to distribute one’s assets across many asset classes, sectors and regions. Diversification is the simplest and cheapest way to reduce risk for retail investors. Today’s winners in the market can become tomorrow’s losers. Or to put it another way, a winner in one year may not necessarily be the winner the following year. Market leadership changes year after year. For example, large cap growth stocks were the top performers in 2007 but crashed heavily during the global financial crisis of 2008. The following chart vividly shows the alternating market leadership from 2001 through 2020:

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Source: Putnam Investments

Related ETFs:

  • SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
  • S&P MidCap 400 SPDR ETF (MDY)
  • SPDR Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY)
  • SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP)
  • SPDR Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE)
  • SPDR Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF)
  • iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend ETF (DVY)
  • SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY)
  • Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG)
  • Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (VWO)
  • Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund ETF (VEA)
  • iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM)

Disclosure: No Positions

Why Invest in Countries Based on Their Industry Exposure

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Investing in foreign stocks involves a thorough analysis of many factors such as market type (emerging vs. developed vs. frontier markets), form of government, liquidity, transparency, accounting standards, etc. After deciding on a particular country, it is again important to determine in what industries or sectors to invest in. This decision is critical because each countries excels in one or more industries. To put it another way, one country’s strength may be in industrial production while another may be a leader in commodities. So for example, if an investor decides to invest in a natural resources-rich country such as Brazil or Australia it is wise to pick stocks in the commodity industry. It would not make sense to look for EV industry or semiconductor plays in these countries. Instead going with an agricultural producer in Brazil or an iron-ore miner in Australia is a sound strategy.

With that said, the below chart shows the industry exposure by country. As commodity prices have surged this year, countries with high exposure in this sector would benefit from further increases as the global economic recovery gains momentum this year.

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Source: Single-Country Allocation: Viewing the Opportunity Through Three Lenses, Franklin Templeton

Russia is a top oil & gas producer while Taiwan and South Korea are heavy weights in the technology sector. So investment picks in these countries should mirror this logic. Searching for tech leaders in Russia is not the best idea. On the other hand picking up stocks in Russian oil & gas producers has better potential for high returns.

Listed below are a few stocks from some of the above countries:

  • Russia – Gazprom(OGZPY), LUKOIL (LUKOY), Rosneft Oil Company (OJSCY) and Surgutneftegas (SGTPY)
  • Brazil – Petrobras SA (PBR) and Ultrapar Participacoes SA (UGP)
  • Taiwan – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSM), United Microelectronics (UMC) and AU Optronics (AUO)
  • Australia – BHP Billiton (BHP) and Piedmont Lithium (PLL)
  • South Africa –  AngloGold Ashanti  (AU) and Harmony Gold (HMY)

Disclosure: Long PBR

Sources of Government Revenue Vary Widely Across OECD Countries: Chart

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Governments in the OECD countries collect tax revenues that can be grouped into the following categories: Consumption Taxes, Social Insurance Taxes, Individual Taxes, Corporate Taxes, Property Taxes and Other. On an average, Consumption Taxes such as Value-Added Tax (VAT) accounted for one-third of tax revenues in OECD member countries in 2019 according to an article by Cristina Enache at The Tax Foundation.

The second and third most revenues came from Social Insurance Taxes and Individual Income Taxes. In terms of Corporate Taxes, on average just 9.6% of revenues were accounted from Corporate Taxes collected.

In the US, corporations are considered as human beings by law. They are living, breathing human beings that can do almost everything a human does like marry another corporation, fight for rights, lobby for favorable rules and regulations, contribute to political campaigns, etc. However when it comes to paying real humans pay the most taxes in the country as opposed to corporations, which are also humans in a technical sense. Americans contributed 41.5% of federal government revenue in the form of individual taxes. Corporations on the other hand paid 3.9% of the revenue. Or to put it another way, individuals paid more than ten times in taxes than corporations. The OECD average corporate tax rate is 9.6%. Some of the countries that earned high revenues from corporate taxes were: Australia, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

The following chart shows the various sources of revenue for OECD countries:

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Source: Sources of Government Revenue in the OECD by Cristina Enache, The Tax Foundation