Nearly six in 10 (59 per cent) Canadians fear they’ll outlive their retirement savings, according to a new survey by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
It found more than half (52 per cent) of non-retirees with a financial plan said it gives them confidence their money would last, making planning the top driver of retirement confidence. Canadians who have or expect to have CPP income reported lower stress about retirement planning than those who don’t expect CPP income (49 per cent versus 39 per cent) and greater confidence their savings would last (52 per cent versus 44 per cent).
Almost half (48 per cent) of respondents said someone in their lives —a parent, family member, friend, or teacher — played an essential role in their financial education and those respondents reported lower levels of stress and higher confidence in retiring.
Read: 61% of Canadians afraid of running out of money in retirement: survey
Anxiety peaked among Canadians aged 55 to 59 before declining in retirement. More than half (55 per cent) of non-retirees and 44 per cent of retirees said they don’t have a retirement plan, with levels virtually unchanged from last year. Among non-retirees without a plan, 59 per cent said they need to earn more before saving for retirement and 49 per cent said they need to pay down debt. Younger Canadians were especially likely to cite competing priorities, with 53 per cent focused on career advancement and 47 per cent on home ownership before creating a plan.
The survey also revealed a gender gap. Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of women reported worrying about running out of money in retirement, compared to 55 per cent of men. Women were less likely to have a retirement plan and more likely to feel stressed about money overall, influenced by systemic factors including lower lifetime earnings, career breaks for caregiving and longer life expectancy.
Younger Canadians were the most anxious, with 68 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 saying they felt significant stress about making the wrong financial decisions. This figure declines steadily with age, dropping to 29 per cent among those age 65 and older.
Read: 25% of divorced, widowed women have less than one month of retirement savings: survey