While more than two-thirds of current retirees finished their careers between the ages of 55 and 64, only 39% of Canadians working today believe they will be able to retire in that time frame, finds a Tangerine survey.
In addition, 18% expect to work well into their 70s, and only 53% of working Canadians believe they’ll be able to live the retired life they envision for themselves.
“These survey results show that the majority of working Canadians today do not expect to retire as young as our parents’ generation,” says Silvio Stroescu, managing director of deposits and investments at Tangerine.
Read: Canadians feel less prepared for retirement
But the results aren’t all bad.
Ninety percent of retired Canadians say they were able to retire at the age they planned, and 77% are now living the retirement lifestyle they envisioned.
“The good news is that today’s retirees show us that it is well within our reach to retire comfortably and on time, and that we just need to remain diligent in following through on our savings and investment goals to achieve the retirement lifestyle we desire,” he says.
Today, while half of all workers under the age of 30 say they have started to save for retirement, 52% report not knowing how much money they’ll need to save for retirement. And, out of those people who have not started saving, 59% say they don’t plan to begin until age 40.
Read: Canadians without a pension aren’t saving more
In total, 78% of working Canadians have started saving for retirement. Of those who have begun to save, 39% say good money habits passed along by their parents is their prime motivator.
When asked what retirement advice they would give young Canadians today, 73% of retirees said their advice would be to “make saving/investing for retirement a part of your budget.”
Despite many seniors living the retirement lifestyle they envisioned for themselves, it seems you can never begin too early, as 57% now say they wish they started saving for retirement sooner. Of the retirees who believe they should have put money away earlier, 66% wish they started saving for retirement in their 20s.
The reason? Almost half (45%) of retirees say the cost of living is much higher today than they ever expected, with 34% saying they didn’t realize just how much money was needed for retirement.
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