Nearly half (47 per cent) of working Canadians believe there’s a serious risk they could outlive their retirement savings, according to Sun Life Financial’s latest survey.
The survey, which polled more than 2,000 employed Canadians aged 20 to 64 and 750 retired Canadians aged 55 to 80, found 75 per cent of those still working don’t have a financial plan and 44 per cent expect to be employed full-time at the age of 66.
Among retirees, nearly 23 per cent described their lifestyle as “frugal” and 72 per cent said their retirement isn’t what they were expecting. For those who are still working at age 66, about two-thirds (65 per cent) said it was because they needed to work, compared to 35 per cent who said it was because they wanted to work. Only 14 per cent said they had a financial plan prior to retirement.
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“Many Canadians don’t realize their employer offers tools and resources designed to help them achieve lifetime financial security,” said Tom Reid, senior vice-president of group retirement services at Sun Life Canada. “Across the country, more and more Canadians can access workplace savings vehicles such as defined contribution pension plans, [registered retirement savings plans] and [tax-free savings accounts]. These are effective and easy tools for saving. Investing early and making contributions when you can will pay off in the long run.”
Read: Canadians worry about outliving retirement savings: surveys