A survey finds that the majority of investors are concerned they haven’t saved enough for retirement and haven’t taken measures to protect their portfolio against the potential of rising interest rates because they’re not sure what to do.
When asked if they were on track to meet retirement goals, 69% of Canadians indicated concern that they haven’t saved enough for retirement and only one in 10 indicated they were confident they will reach their retirement goals.
Surprisingly however, when considering their current investment state relative to where they want to be when they retire, 57% believe they need to stay the course and continue with their current investment strategy, indicating a disconnect between beliefs and actions.
Canadians also tend to take little action during down markets. On average, Canadians believe they lost between 10% and 50% of their investment portfolio as a result of the market slide of 2008, but one in five were unable to indicate exactly how much they lost. Even in the face of a substantial equity setback, 49% of Canadians made adjustments to their portfolio.
When it comes to current investing strategies, 56% of Canadians are concerned about the impact of rising interest rates on their portfolio, but 59% claim they don’t know what to do about it.
Similarly, although 80% of Canadians understand that there are benefits to global diversification, 59% are unsure if investing outside of the country is worth the risk. Overall, one in five Canadians say they do not have any investments outside of Canada and an equal number are unsure if they do.
“We know people are not saving enough for their retirement and may not be prepared to deal with future market volatility,” says Blake C. Goldring, chairman and CEO of AGF. “Financial literacy and financial advice are the best tools to employ in these circumstances and these survey results indicate that Canadians recognize the value of both.”
There were 1,001 Canadians over the age of 35 with at least $25,000 in investible assets that participated in the survey.
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