
Retirement Planning Lessons from the World's Happiest Countries
For the eighth year in a row, the happiest country in the world is ... Finland! An annual collaboration between Gallup polling, the University of Oxford, and the United Nations, the 2025 World Happiness Report asked respondents from more than 130 countries to rate their lives on a scale from zero (the worst) to 10 (the best). Researchers also factored in questions about kindness and generosity, as well as how people perceive the benevolence of their neighbors. Not only did Finland claim the top spot, but fellow Nordic countries Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands rounded out the top five. And the United States? We actually dropped from 23 last year down to 24, due in part to younger people feeling more pessimistic about the future. So, where would you rate yourself on that scale? Is there anything we can do to experience more happiness in our lives? And how does money fit into this equation? Let's look at the three main conclusions that the WHR drew from its data and think about how we can apply those lessons to comprehensive financial planning.