How current retirees in North America feel about the state of their retirement is largely dependent on where they live, according to a new report from Toronto-Dominion Bank.

To understand the lessons that can be learned from current retirees’ experiences on both sides of the border, TD conducted a study on the attitudes of Canadian and American retirees.

The findings were striking. The data indicates that Canadian retirees fared significantly better through the recession than their American counterparts — while American retirees are twice as likely to worry that they might run out of money, Canadians are twice as likely to be living their retirement dream.

When asked if they are living their retirement dream, close to 70% of Canadian retirees say that their retirement is exactly or mostly what they were expecting, in contrast to only 47% of Americans.

How retirees feel about the state of their retirement may be linked to their current financial situation. Overall, American retirees are more concerned about their finances than their Canadian counterparts: 38% of Americans say they definitely did not save enough money (vs 21% of Canadians) and while 21% of Americans are worried they did not start saving early enough, only 10% of Canadians feel the same way.

Impact of the recession

The report findings demonstrate that Americans are still enjoying life, even though they did not weather the recession nearly as well as their neighbours. Half of Americans surveyed are now spending less as a result of the recession but are still enjoying themselves (compared to 37% of Canadians).

Less encouraging is the fact that one in four American retirees are worried they will run out of money. Twenty-eight percent of retirees say they might need to find a job to supplement their retirement income. In contrast, Canadian retirees are more confident: 30% say they were not impacted by the recession, with just 12% concerned they might run out of money and 10% considering job hunting.

Lifestyle vs. finances

Interestingly, the top advice from American retirees to those next in line is not financial advice. Americans first recommend that retirees take better care of their health (53%) and second, talk to their spouses before retiring to ensure they have the same vision (50%), followed by maxing out their 401Ks (38%).

In contrast, Canadians are more focused on their financial health. The top advice from Canadian retirees is to max out an RRSP (48%) and then to talk to their spouses about retirement dreams (46%) followed by taking care of their health (36%).

Lesson learned from both sides of the border

When asked about the mistakes they made in planning for their retirement, a significant number of retirees in Canada and the U.S. say they did not start saving until they were over 40 (28% of Canadians retirees and 32% of Americans).

Among the smartest things retirees say they did in planning for their retirement were working for a company with a matching retirement savings plan or pension plan (39% of Canadians and 27% of Americans) and living within their means (28% of Canadians and 27% of Americans).

The TD North American Report on Retirement is a survey of 1,002 retired Canadians and 1,009 retired Americans between the ages of 55-70. The survey was conducted by Angus-Reid Public Opinion, a division of VisionCritical, between January 12-18.

IE