What's going on?

Dutch bank ING published the results of its global survey on retirement on Thursday and it is grim: we expect to work till we drop.

What does this mean?

ING surveyed 15,000 people around the world, principally in Europe and the US. 60% of respondents in work fear penury if (but hopefully when) they retire. Half of Europeans and almost two-thirds of Americans think they�ll be obliged to work past retirement (tweet this). Three-quarters of working Americans think they won�t maintain their current standard of living in retirement. Europeans are little more sanguine � 60% anticipate austerity after a life of work.

Why should I care?

For you personally: Saving and investing can free you.

Putting money aside for a rainy day or to invest is an important part of saving, budgeting, and building towards financial independence. ING�s survey showed a quarter of both Europeans and Americans households have no savings. For �emergency funds�, the rule of thumb is to squirrel away three months� salary. But the average Brit has less than one month�s salary set aside. And in the US, 20% of earners don�t save any of their salary at all. There are simple saving, budgeting, and investing steps you can take today to give yourself the choice to retire as you desire.

The bigger picture: Rates? Not interested�

Interest rates have been low for years and give you little incentive to keep money in traditional bank accounts. And rising prices of goods and services (a.k.a. inflation) means your cash buys ever fewer things. Bank boffins responded: British bank Lloyds is hiring investment managers to target cash-bound savers and American colossus JPMorgan is giving away investment services for free. Now, if only there were a way to compare your options� ?