While 39% of Canada’s baby boomers agree retirement planning should begin when people enter the workplace, only 9% actually thought about their retirement when they entered the workforce, according to a study.
The Scotiabank study, The Retirement Landscape – A Focus on the Baby Boomer, also finds that nearly 31% of boomers don’t know what percentage of
pre-retirement income they’ll need, and 28% will be carrying some form of debt into their retirement.
Working in retirement is common among boomers, with 40% of retirees working past retirement, 84% of which are working on a part-time basis. Among those boomers not yet retired, 15% plan to never stop working.
The top reasons retirees are working in retirement are to remain mentally active (76%), for social interaction (61%), followed by financial necessity (39%).
More than half of boomers who haven’t retired yet (55%) agreed that “not having enough money saved up to retire comfortably” could result in delays in when they decide to retire. Their top triggers to start thinking about retirement are when they have enough money (42%), when their pension begins (16%) and health reasons (10%).
“While boomers feel they should be thinking about retirement as soon as they start working, in reality, most do not think seriously about retirement until five years before the anticipated event or about 10 years before retirement,” says Andrew Pyle, senior wealth advisor for ScotiaMcLeod.