PRIMARY care doctors have been given the option to claim 75% of their State pension along with 100% of their salary to continue working beyond retirement age in a bid to address the shortage in Spain's health...
Countries with the longest retirement revealed...and how Spain compares
21/09/2021
RETIREMENT was once something that happened when we were too old to work, and the average pensioner did not live for very long after giving up the daily grind – that cut-off age of 60 or 65 was the end of one's active life and the beginning of 'elderly' status. But nowadays, retirement is often considered to be when our lives start, not finish – and it is quite feasible to be living on a pension for more years than you lived on a salary.
And recent research has confirmed this – the top 10 countries where your pension lasts you the longest have been revealed and, of course, Spain features among them.
Personal finance price comparison site Compare the Market analysed countries that form part of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), which more or less covers the world's wealthiest, and most of the emerging, national economies.
When working out where pensioners got the most out of their pot, Compare the Market looked at official retirement age in each nation, actual retirement age – based upon those who are able to give up work earlier, or those forced to work for longer to build up enough funds – and life expectancy.
Who's in the top 10?
Number 10 in the developed world for the longest-lasting pension is Finland, statistically one of the happiest countries on earth due to its exceptional quality of life, although conversely, statistically one of the countries with the highest suicide rate, thought to be influenced by its long, harsh winters and limited hours of daylight for several months of the year. But its retired population has good reason to be part of the first of these groups, given that they typically get to pack up work before their official retirement age of 65 – the average Finn drops out of the rat race at 63.85 years.
With Compare the Market's calculations that a pension in Finland lasts for 21.3 years, this would mean an average lifespan of 85.15 to 86.3 years, depending upon whether the clock starts to run from State pension age or actual retirement.
Australia is at number nine – home to what is officially claimed to be 'the world's most liveable city', Melbourne, and with a climate similar to that of Spain in the southern half of the country, the weather and lifestyle makes it one of the most popular emigrant hotspots for retirees; although, arguably, it's a very long and expensive flight for home and family visits if you come from northern Europe, unlike Spain which is never more than two or three hours by regular low-cost airline from anywhere on the continent, and which you can even get to comfortably by car, with or without a ferry crossing somewhere en route.
In Oz, retirement lasts a little longer than in Finland – 21.55 years – largely due to life expectancy, since although State pension age is, also, 65, the average worker does not stop much before this: Australia's 'true' retirement age is 64.8 years.
Austria is another country with very little difference between State pension age and actual retirement age, and despite ongoing international pressure on Spain and other southern European nations to carry on pushing up the minimum age for stopping work, it turns out that quite a number of EU member States have an official pension age well below 65.
That's certainly the case if your capital city is Vienna. This land-locked hotbed of classical composers, famous for its New Year chamber music concerts, has a State pension age of 62-and-a-half, with the average resident collecting their gold watch only slightly earlier at 62.15 years; based upon a mean lifespan of around 84.3 to 84.5, an Austrian pension will last you about 22.15 years, says Compare the Market.
If Austria is starting to sound appealing based upon being able to collect your State pension a good two years earlier than most, Slovenia, at number seven, is more tempting still: Although, once again, people do not typically stop work until very shortly before the official retirement age anyway, given that this is at only 61.85, it would still feel like packing up early. The 'true' average age for pulling out of the payroll is 61.6, but life expectancy is lower; your pension pot will last you a typical 22.3 years, longer than Finland, Australia or Austria, but this gives a mean age of 83.9 to 84.15, younger than the preceding three countries.
Conversely, Italy has the highest official retirement age of Compare the Market's top 10, but that retirement lasts longer than in Slovenia, where you can claim your State pension a whole five years earlier. Having to wait until age 66.8 to give up work might, depending upon how you look at it, be worth it in exchange for an average post-retirement life expectancy of 23.2 years.
Also, and perhaps as a direct consequence of Italy's high pension age, the reality is that residents are a mean age of 62.4 when their employee life ends.
Compare the Market's calculations indicate that, on average, an Italian will live to be between 85.6 and 90, depending upon whether the typical 23.2 years of retirement applies to the official or the real age of finishing work.
Belgium follows the standard pattern of a State pension age of 65, but Compare the Market's figures show that its workforce does not leave it that long before bowing out. The country which is home to the EU's central nervous system appears to treat early retirement as standard practice – the 'true' age for quitting the commute is 61.5, or even younger than in Slovenia. This gives a typical retired life of 23.3 years which, if applied to the official age, means living to an average of 88.3 years, or applied to the 'real' age gives 84.8 years.
Luxembourg also has a State pension age comfortably below the usual 65, and one of the lowest 'true' retirement ages in the OECD – officially, you can stop work at 62, but the typical employee gives up at age 60.9.
This, combined with life expectancy, gives a total of 23.65 years to enjoy one's freedom, assuming a life span of between 84.55 and 85.65.
Greece, third on the list, under the spotlight a decade or so back due to its economic problems and with austerity measures thrust upon it, has, nevertheless, managed to retain a lower-than-usual State pension age – 62, like Luxembourg, and with a similar actual retirement age to its tiny, central European counterpart: The average Greek is able to stop work at 60.85 years.
And in keeping with the high life expectancies seen on the Mediterranean, Greece is one of just three countries in the world where your pension will last you upwards of 24 years – 24.1, in fact, meaning to between age 84.95 and 86.1.
Where does Spain fit in?
Now for Spain – if you have worked here and are entitled to a Spanish State pension, it will last you the second-longest of any country on earth. According to Compare the Market, an average retirement for a Spaniard lasts for 24.15 years, largely due to having the highest life expectancy in the EU, the second-highest in Europe after Switzerland, and the fourth-highest in the world.
Early retirement has never been part of the culture in Spain, and is even widely frowned upon – which means it comes as a surprise that the average worker finds freedom from corporate shackles at just 61.7 years, instead of the State pension age of 65.
It means a pensioner is expected to live until a typical 85.85 to 89.15 years of age.
Over the next few years, though, Spain's State pension age is set to rise gradually to 67 – a decision taken some time ago during the global financial crisis – but as yet, the full details of the national government's planned 'pension reform' have not been revealed, and are not fully decided.
Some ideas floated have proven unpopular or unworkable – such as incentives of up to €12,000 per extra year retirement is delayed, or financially penalising early retirement with measures that include taxing or reducing pensions – but the former is thought to be too costly and the latter looked set to create public outcry, especially as workers with care duties for elderly parents or spouses may have no option but to retire before 65, more physical, manual professions are much harder to continue with after this age, and those who started work at a very young age could be hit with financial sanctions for packing up early despite having contributed to the pot for the same number of years as someone who started work later and carried on until the requisite age.
Nothing is likely to come into force until at least 2022 or 2023, however, meaning major debates between the government and representatives of all affected parties will be held prior to reaching any decisions.
Now we know retirement in Spain is the second-longest in the world, which country beats it?
France is number one, according to Compare the Market – and again, has a State pension age below the usual 65, along with a culture of early retirement.
French workers officially give up at 63.3, but in practice, do so on average at 60.8, giving them just weeks short of a quarter of a century to make the most of their post-professional lives.
Compare the Market says an average retirement in France lasts for 24.8 years, meaning French pensioners are expected to live to between 85.6 and 88.1 – not as long as in Spain, but longer than in Slovenia.
Of course, a healthy adult of pension age can easily live into his or her 90s or break the century barrier, especially in Spain and other Mediterranean countries where the percentage of residents aged over 100 is significant compared with elsewhere in the western world – but the post-retirement life span calculated takes into account those who die young and do not get the chance to enjoy pensionerhood for long as well as those who reach well over three figures and end up spending more of their lives retired than they did working.
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RETIREMENT was once something that happened when we were too old to work, and the average pensioner did not live for very long after giving up the daily grind – that cut-off age of 60 or 65 was the end of one's active life and the beginning of 'elderly' status. But nowadays, retirement is often considered to be when our lives start, not finish – and it is quite feasible to be living on a pension for more years than you lived on a salary.
And recent research has confirmed this – the top 10 countries where your pension lasts you the longest have been revealed and, of course, Spain features among them.
Personal finance price comparison site Compare the Market analysed countries that form part of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), which more or less covers the world's wealthiest, and most of the emerging, national economies.
When working out where pensioners got the most out of their pot, Compare the Market looked at official retirement age in each nation, actual retirement age – based upon those who are able to give up work earlier, or those forced to work for longer to build up enough funds – and life expectancy.
Who's in the top 10?
Number 10 in the developed world for the longest-lasting pension is Finland, statistically one of the happiest countries on earth due to its exceptional quality of life, although conversely, statistically one of the countries with the highest suicide rate, thought to be influenced by its long, harsh winters and limited hours of daylight for several months of the year. But its retired population has good reason to be part of the first of these groups, given that they typically get to pack up work before their official retirement age of 65 – the average Finn drops out of the rat race at 63.85 years.
With Compare the Market's calculations that a pension in Finland lasts for 21.3 years, this would mean an average lifespan of 85.15 to 86.3 years, depending upon whether the clock starts to run from State pension age or actual retirement.
Australia is at number nine – home to what is officially claimed to be 'the world's most liveable city', Melbourne, and with a climate similar to that of Spain in the southern half of the country, the weather and lifestyle makes it one of the most popular emigrant hotspots for retirees; although, arguably, it's a very long and expensive flight for home and family visits if you come from northern Europe, unlike Spain which is never more than two or three hours by regular low-cost airline from anywhere on the continent, and which you can even get to comfortably by car, with or without a ferry crossing somewhere en route.
In Oz, retirement lasts a little longer than in Finland – 21.55 years – largely due to life expectancy, since although State pension age is, also, 65, the average worker does not stop much before this: Australia's 'true' retirement age is 64.8 years.
Austria is another country with very little difference between State pension age and actual retirement age, and despite ongoing international pressure on Spain and other southern European nations to carry on pushing up the minimum age for stopping work, it turns out that quite a number of EU member States have an official pension age well below 65.
That's certainly the case if your capital city is Vienna. This land-locked hotbed of classical composers, famous for its New Year chamber music concerts, has a State pension age of 62-and-a-half, with the average resident collecting their gold watch only slightly earlier at 62.15 years; based upon a mean lifespan of around 84.3 to 84.5, an Austrian pension will last you about 22.15 years, says Compare the Market.
If Austria is starting to sound appealing based upon being able to collect your State pension a good two years earlier than most, Slovenia, at number seven, is more tempting still: Although, once again, people do not typically stop work until very shortly before the official retirement age anyway, given that this is at only 61.85, it would still feel like packing up early. The 'true' average age for pulling out of the payroll is 61.6, but life expectancy is lower; your pension pot will last you a typical 22.3 years, longer than Finland, Australia or Austria, but this gives a mean age of 83.9 to 84.15, younger than the preceding three countries.
Conversely, Italy has the highest official retirement age of Compare the Market's top 10, but that retirement lasts longer than in Slovenia, where you can claim your State pension a whole five years earlier. Having to wait until age 66.8 to give up work might, depending upon how you look at it, be worth it in exchange for an average post-retirement life expectancy of 23.2 years.
Also, and perhaps as a direct consequence of Italy's high pension age, the reality is that residents are a mean age of 62.4 when their employee life ends.
Compare the Market's calculations indicate that, on average, an Italian will live to be between 85.6 and 90, depending upon whether the typical 23.2 years of retirement applies to the official or the real age of finishing work.
Belgium follows the standard pattern of a State pension age of 65, but Compare the Market's figures show that its workforce does not leave it that long before bowing out. The country which is home to the EU's central nervous system appears to treat early retirement as standard practice – the 'true' age for quitting the commute is 61.5, or even younger than in Slovenia. This gives a typical retired life of 23.3 years which, if applied to the official age, means living to an average of 88.3 years, or applied to the 'real' age gives 84.8 years.
Luxembourg also has a State pension age comfortably below the usual 65, and one of the lowest 'true' retirement ages in the OECD – officially, you can stop work at 62, but the typical employee gives up at age 60.9.
This, combined with life expectancy, gives a total of 23.65 years to enjoy one's freedom, assuming a life span of between 84.55 and 85.65.
Greece, third on the list, under the spotlight a decade or so back due to its economic problems and with austerity measures thrust upon it, has, nevertheless, managed to retain a lower-than-usual State pension age – 62, like Luxembourg, and with a similar actual retirement age to its tiny, central European counterpart: The average Greek is able to stop work at 60.85 years.
And in keeping with the high life expectancies seen on the Mediterranean, Greece is one of just three countries in the world where your pension will last you upwards of 24 years – 24.1, in fact, meaning to between age 84.95 and 86.1.
Where does Spain fit in?
Now for Spain – if you have worked here and are entitled to a Spanish State pension, it will last you the second-longest of any country on earth. According to Compare the Market, an average retirement for a Spaniard lasts for 24.15 years, largely due to having the highest life expectancy in the EU, the second-highest in Europe after Switzerland, and the fourth-highest in the world.
Early retirement has never been part of the culture in Spain, and is even widely frowned upon – which means it comes as a surprise that the average worker finds freedom from corporate shackles at just 61.7 years, instead of the State pension age of 65.
It means a pensioner is expected to live until a typical 85.85 to 89.15 years of age.
Over the next few years, though, Spain's State pension age is set to rise gradually to 67 – a decision taken some time ago during the global financial crisis – but as yet, the full details of the national government's planned 'pension reform' have not been revealed, and are not fully decided.
Some ideas floated have proven unpopular or unworkable – such as incentives of up to €12,000 per extra year retirement is delayed, or financially penalising early retirement with measures that include taxing or reducing pensions – but the former is thought to be too costly and the latter looked set to create public outcry, especially as workers with care duties for elderly parents or spouses may have no option but to retire before 65, more physical, manual professions are much harder to continue with after this age, and those who started work at a very young age could be hit with financial sanctions for packing up early despite having contributed to the pot for the same number of years as someone who started work later and carried on until the requisite age.
Nothing is likely to come into force until at least 2022 or 2023, however, meaning major debates between the government and representatives of all affected parties will be held prior to reaching any decisions.
Now we know retirement in Spain is the second-longest in the world, which country beats it?
France is number one, according to Compare the Market – and again, has a State pension age below the usual 65, along with a culture of early retirement.
French workers officially give up at 63.3, but in practice, do so on average at 60.8, giving them just weeks short of a quarter of a century to make the most of their post-professional lives.
Compare the Market says an average retirement in France lasts for 24.8 years, meaning French pensioners are expected to live to between 85.6 and 88.1 – not as long as in Spain, but longer than in Slovenia.
Of course, a healthy adult of pension age can easily live into his or her 90s or break the century barrier, especially in Spain and other Mediterranean countries where the percentage of residents aged over 100 is significant compared with elsewhere in the western world – but the post-retirement life span calculated takes into account those who die young and do not get the chance to enjoy pensionerhood for long as well as those who reach well over three figures and end up spending more of their lives retired than they did working.
Related Topics
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