These Are the Countries With the Longest -- and Shortest -- Healthy Retirements

If you want the longest "healthy retirement" -- that is, those years spent without serious illness or injury -- the data has a strong suggestion: move to Europe. Specifically, France, Luxembourg, Greece, Spain, or Belgium.

According to a recent Bloomberg study, which compiled life expectancy data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and effective labor exit ages from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), these five countries have the longest healthy retirements among the world's top 38 economies.

The United States, on the other hand, ranked low for healthy retirements, falling in the bottom five countries for both men and women.

What does ‘healthy retirement’ even mean?

According to Bloomberg, a healthy retirement boils down to two factors:

• Effective retirement age: The average age workers retire from their jobs. This is different from a country's official pension age (or "normal" retirement age), which is the age workers can draw benefits from a pension system.
• Healthy life expectancy: The average number of years retirees live in good health with no serious diseases or injuries.

A healthy retirement, then, is the difference between the year you retire and the year you begin to experience serious health problems or injuries.

For instance, men in France typically retire at age 61.8 and remain healthy until they're 78.5. That means, they have around 16.7 years of healthy retirement. Women in France also retire at 61.8 but on average they remain healthy until they're 80.8, giving them 20 full years of healthy retirement.

Let's compare that to the U.S.

Men in the U.S. often retire at 67.9 and can expect to remain healthy until they're 75.6. That means, they have around 7.7 years of healthy retirement. Women, on the other hand, have slightly longer retirements: they typically retire at 66.5 and stay healthy until they're 77.1, giving them 10.6 years.

Which countries have the longest healthy retirements?

Bloomberg doesn't rank every country, only the 38 registered with the OECD. According to its data, here's how these countries rank, from longest to shortest healthy retirements:

Keep in mind these rankings may not align with your personal experience. For instance, there are very likely men and women in Mexico who live longer, healthier lives than certain men and women in France.

Another shortcoming: Bloomberg bases its ranking on data that was obtained in 2019. Since both WHO and OECD will not release new data until 2024, we won't know which countries enjoy the longest healthy retirements post-pandemic.

How can you live a longer, healthier retirement?

If you want a long, healthy retirement, you can generally do two things. You can make positive changes to your health, so that you live longer without serious illnesses or injuries. Or, you can save more money now and retire earlier than the average effective retirement age for your country.

Health conditions aren't always in our control. But how we spend and save money generally is. Consider the following:

• Invest early. Opening a brokerage account and investing at an early age gives your money more time to grow. Conversely, if you're closer to a retirement age, you'll likely need to invest large sums to give your retirement a boost.
• Invest in growth and stability. Growth investments come with more potential for large returns, but they come with risks, too. Safer investments, like bonds, can bring more diversification and stabilize your portfolio.
• Move to a country with a lower cost of living than the U.S. You could look at Costa Rica, Greece, or Poland. These countries have cheaper living costs and per the list above, their healthy retirements are longer than the U.S. (be sure you know the requirements before you consider moving).

If you're looking to retire early, work on the above tasks to put your personal finances on the right track.