(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar jumps 10 places and ranks at the 21st position in the world ranking of retirement security, according to the 2015 Global Retirement Index, an analysis of 150 countries published today by Natixis Global Asset Management.
The global findings suggest that retirement security is uncertain for most retirees given unsustainable demand for government resources and macroeconomic factors that affect the value of retiree savings, placing more responsibility on individual investors for their own welfare in retirement.
Qatar's strong economic performance and rapid rise in national income has boosted the nation's rankings in the 2015 retirement report, which reflects the welfare of retirees in different countries. Qatar has moved from 31st to 21st place, overtaking the UAE and Kuwait.
The 2015 Global Retirement Index shows that Qatar has one of the world's highest ratings for 'material wellbeing', a ranking based on national levels of income equality, income per capita and the unemployment index. While ranking relatively low for income equality, income per capita in Qatar is the highest in the world. The country also has the world's highest ranking for 'finances in retirement', which indicates the strength of an individual's financial security relative to interest rates, the investment environment, inflation, tax pressures and government indebtedness. Retirees in Qatar benefit from strong GDP growth of 6.3 percent in 2014, a favourably low interest rate, moderate inflation and extremely low tax pressure of only 2.9 percent of GDP.
Terry Mellish, Head of Global Institutional Services and the Middle East North Africa Business at Natixis Global Asset Management said, "Retirees in Qatar are able to benefit from an incredibly favourable economy, which offers high wages and relatively low unemployment. The fact that Qatar comes out on top of some of the GCC's fastest growing economies is indicative of the nation's sound finances and stable economy."
Healthcare provision for pensioners in Qatar is also high with a ranking in the 79th percentile, indicating that the country is succeeding in building healthcare infrastructure that can keep pace with its overall economic growth.
The lack of financial planning in today's working age population has also been laid bare in a recent global survey of individual investors, which showed that only 13 percent of investors worldwide said they understood their retirement savings goals very well. Even fewer still said that they understood their retirement goals as well.
The 2015 Global Retirement Index focuses on twenty factors that determine the welfare of retirees in different countries, which are grouped in to four sub-indices and corresponding with four key aspects of those in retirement: health, material wellbeing, quality of life and finances in retirement
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