Countries leading in this category are Chile, Australia, Costa Rica and Bahrain, each of which has benefited from low government indebtedness, low inflation, a positive interest-rate environment and better-than-average bank loan performance.
“While Americans are generally satisfied with their quality of life, the U.S. gets mixed reviews on its environmental policies,” the index says, which hurts its ranking in the quality-of-life category.
Natixis suggested steps that can be taken to improve the United States’ ranking in the index. Government agencies need to work together to accomplish retirement and financial reforms instead of each working separately. Employers need to be more flexible in adopting retirement plans that include more people. And individuals need to take more responsibility in saving for their own retirement.
The nations that hold the top rankings share some common characteristics that could be useful to the United States and other countries farther down the list, Natixis advises. Many show a commitment to innovation when it comes to such things as improving savings rates; they emphasize simplicity in retirement plans, and they have governments willing to enact bold policy changes when needed such as raising the retirement age.