More than half (56%) of Canadians aged 18-34 do not have a Registered Retirement Savings Plan, and a growing number may sit on the bench again this year according the 12th Annual RRSP Poll by RBC/Ipsos-Reid.

The poll, which was released on Thursday, found 55% of Canadians aged 18-34 said they are not planning to contribute to their retirement savings in 2002. This represents an increase of 10% over 2001.

The major reasons cited by investors under 35 include: not having enough money to contribute (35%); haven’t thought about it or gotten around to it (9%); and not interested (11%).

Eleven per cent of this age group do not contribute due to either being a student or having student loans, while 7% of Canadians between the ages of 18-34 consider themselves as too young to contribute to an RRSP.

The RBC/Ipsos-Reid poll was conducted by telephone between November 7 and November 24, 2002. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,200 Canadians 18 years of age or older. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within (+/-) 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.