Just over 55% of Canada’s future retirees are comfortable that they are on track to achieve their retirement goals, on par with 2012 results.

That’s according to recent investment poll conducted for Bank of Nova Scotia.

The comfort level in achieving retirement goals jumps to 75% for those future retirees who say they have a written financial plan. Looking at all Canadians, just under 27% have a written financial plan versus 28% in 2012.

When it comes to funding for retirement, the poll revealed a downward trend in the reliance on the traditional sources of income: 55% savings (versus 60% in 2012 and 63% in 2011); 53% government (versus 57% in 2012 and 60% in 2011); 50% RSP contributions (versus 65% in 2012 and 70% in 2011); and 47% work pension (versus 52% in both 2012 and 2011).

Relying on inheritance to fund retirement also went down to 18% from 22% in 2012, as did selling one’s home (17% versus 22% in 2012) and income from investment property (12% versus 15% in 2012).

Similar to previous years, nearly 58% of future retirees expect to work after “officially” retiring from the workforce (versus 62% in 2012 and 2011). The most common given reason for working after retirement continues to be the desire to remain mentally active (52%), followed by financial necessity (49%).

Year over year more Canadians who are expecting to retire are concerned about not having enough money to support their retirement, 72% in 2013, 68% in 2012 and 67% in 2011.

Over the past five years, Canadians who expect to retire in the future have saved an average of $22,731 for retirement — an amount that has been trending downward ($24,469 in 2012 and $31,824 in 2011).

Affordability continues to be the primary barrier Canadians face towards investing more (64% in 2013 and 2012 and 59% in 2011), while 20% feel they already invest enough (versus 19% in 2012 and 24% in 2011).

Scotiabank’s Annual Investment Poll was conducted online for the third consecutive year using Harris/Decima’s online panel. A total of 1,029 completed surveys were collected from a random sample of panel members across Canada. The study was conducted from Nov. 12 to 27, 2013.