Interest rates are set by the economy as a whole. Because of arbitrage, the interest rate on low-risk assets (including bonds and various forms of debt) will a

Interest rates are set by the economy as a whole. Because of arbitrage, the interest rate on low-risk assets (including bonds and various forms of debt) will always be more or less the same. You can't have higher returns without a higher cost of borrowing. And of course, raising interest rates suddenly will have negative effects - assets will be devalued (higher borrowing costs drives house prices down, for example), which hurts retirees even more than low interest rates on savings.