More than half of Canadians feel that the state of their personal finances is not strong enough to ensure they’ll have a comfortable retirement, RBC’s 20th annual RRSP poll shows.

The survey of nearly 1,500 adults, which was conducted by Ipsos Reid late in 2009, displays that a growing proportion of Canadians are not confident that they’ll have enough money for retirement. Fifty-three per cent of respondents who have established financial goals said they feel they are somewhat short or nowhere close to where they think they should be to ensure a comfortable retirement, up from 36% in 2007.

The survey shows that having enough money for a comfortable retirement is the most important consideration in deciding when to retire, with 68% of respondents citing this factor.

On average, retirees have a goal of nearly $270,000 as the amount of money required for a comfortable retirement, down sharply from nearly $450,000 in 2007. People not yet retired think they will need nearly two and half times that amount, or almost $660,000, down from almost $900,000 in 2007.

Furthermore, the gap between men’s and women’s retirement savings goals, has significantly narrowed from a difference of $366,000 in 2007 down to $136,000 in 2009. Men have a retirement goal of $555,000, down from $922,000 in 2007, while women have a retirement goal of $419,000, down from $556,000 in 2007.

“Clearly the recent economic turmoil has had an especially sobering effect on men’s savings objectives,” said Lee Anne Davies, head of retirement strategies at RBC Royal Bank. “Whereas women tend to be more long-term focused, which explains why their retirement savings goals have been less affected by short-term changes in the market.”

Slightly more than half of Canadians expect their pensions — whether a pension from an employer, at 29%, or a government pension at 25% — to be the single, largest source of income in retirement, followed by income from their investments, at 18%. Yet, one-in-five Canadians do not know what kind of pension plan they have.

Canadians expect part-time or occasional work and income from their own investments to be supplementary sources of income during retirement. Thirty per cent of Canadians aged 35-54 expect to be working in retirement, suggesting that the concept of a traditional retirement is disappearing.

“It’s important for Canadians to understand and be aware of all available retirement income sources in order to make informed decisions about financing their retirement,” said Davies. “Having a financial plan ensures you are not relying too much on any particular source of income and are aware of all of your options.”

IE