The top priorities for Canadian baby boomers for retirement are living comfortably and having the health to enjoy it, according to a study. However, 44% express concern about outliving their retirement savings.
The findings are from the second set of results released from Scotiabank’s study The Retirement Landscape – A Focus on the Baby Boomer.
Baby boomers say that maintaining a comfortable living (37%), meeting their health-related needs and keeping healthy (31%) and travelling (15%) are their top priorities for their retirement years.
Most Canadian baby boomers believe they will be more active (62%), relatively better off financially (54%), retired longer (44%) and healthier (41%) than their parents in retirement.
“Canadians will be living longer and healthier lives than in previous generations, and with that comes the necessity to have the funds to live out their retirement years as they have planned,” said Andrew Pyle, senior wealth advisor at ScotiaMcLeod.
One-half of boomers believe they have done a great deal (13%) or quite a bit (39%) of planning for their financial needs in retirement, while a further 31% have done some planning and 15% have done very little planning or none at all.
The No. 1 step toward preparing for retirement is saving as much as they can (26%), followed by having an RRSP (22%) and investments (13%).
“Canadians who have insufficient funds in their retirement years cannot only constrain their lifestyle choices but also significantly impact their overall health and well-being,” explains Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Mount Sinai and the University Health Network hospitals. “Successful aging should no longer be solely centred around our health but ensuring that we will have the financial resources to not only live longer but also live well.”