Surprise! Which Country is Killing U.S. in 401k Retirement Readiness?

First Mother Teresa gets canonized, and now this. Does it signal a return of India Inc.?

Of 15 countries recently surveyed, “Bharat” leads in retirement readiness. Overall, the survey from Aegon finds only slight improvements globally in retirement preparedness since it began measuring in 2012.

And the United States?

It ties with the United Kingdom for second place, and has made the greatest progress in retirement readiness since 2012.

“This is no coincidence,” according to the survey. “The presence of well-developed third pillar pensions, in the shape of workplace defined contribution plans such as 401(k) plans in the United States, means that people have greater personal ownership over their retirement plans.”

Elsewhere, improvements in planning and saving have been offset by decreases in feelings of personal responsibility related to providing sufficient income in retirement. Moreover, around the world, many workers are heavily reliant on government benefits and are not saving enough to adequately fund their retirement income needs.