Almost half of Canadians (46%) say they find it easier to save than invest, according to a recent Scotiabank study conducted by Harris/Decima assessing the saving and investment habits of Canadians.

Only 11% of respondents believe investing is easier. The rest of Canadians find there is no difference between saving and investing, either indicating that they are equally difficult (19%) or equally easy (24%).

Of the Canadians who indicated that it’s easier to save, half (52%) feel this is true because it requires little research or effort and 36% think it is safer. Of those who believe investing is easier than saving, 14% based their decision on the fact that with investing, money is difficult to access, as it is often locked-in and there are penalty fees for withdrawals. An additional 10% of this group felt that investing is easier because it can be done automatically.

“At Scotiabank, our goal is to help make investing easier for Canadians and to do so, we wanted to get a better understanding of their thoughts and habits around investing, and how they differ from saving,” says Gillian Riley, senior vice president & head, retail payments, deposits and lending, Scotiabank. “For many, there is clearly a distinction between the two.

“Canadians told us that they see saving as a secure way of setting money aside for the short-term; in comparison, investing is about growth and returns over the long-term, which has the potential to involve more risk,” continues Riley. “Often, the short-term aspect of saving gives people tangible goals, whereas investing is long-term, which can be overwhelming since goals can seem vague and distant.”

Though investing may be more difficult for most Canadians, almost half of the population (46%) consider themselves both an investor and a saver and an additional 10% consider themselves only an investor.

“There are many ways of making investing for the future a bit easier, one of which is to break down long-term goals into more tangible, short-term increments,” addes Riley. “For example, by speaking with your financial planner about what you would need to do over the next five years to get you on the right track for your future, it can be easier to get started working toward your goals.”

A total of 1,011 completed surveys were collected from a random sample of panel members across Canada. The study was conducted from October 14 to 25.

IE