Although many Canadians are bracing for a lengthy retirement, only 42% are actually plotting out a calculated plan that will guide their financial decisions for these twilight years, which is below the global average of 56%, according to a new report HSBC Bank Canada released on Wednesday.
This lack of planning, coupled with slow economic growth, may explain why few Canadians surveyed see a rosy retirement ahead of them. In fact, just 29% of working-age participants aged 21 and older believe they’ll be financially comfortable when they retire.
That’s in contrast to the global average of 34%, and, more specifically, to countries such as India and Indonesia, which have the highest expectations, at 69% and 61%, respectively.
Low interest rates, rising health-care costs and potentially high national debt levels seem to be dampening expectations of a financially secure retirement across the globe, particularly for the millennial generation, the report finds.
These findings, which are based on the responses of some 18,000 participants in 16 countries, out of which about 1,003 were Canadians, may point to areas financial advisors can focus on when discussing clients’ long-term goals and setting out a course for their retirement plan.
Read: Special Report on Retirement 2016
“The good news is that Canadians are anticipating a longer retirement and lifespan than many of their global peers — the less-than-great news is that they’re not actually planning for it,” says Larry Tomei, executive vice president and head of retail banking and wealth management at HSBC Bank Canada, in a statement.
Although technology has made it conceivably easier to save for retirement, just 31% of pre-retirees in Canada say that technological advancements, such as the advent of robo-advisors, use of retirement calculators and online research, will boost their preparedness for retirement.
With the global average at 47%, Canada, along with other Western nations, is lagging in “taking full advantage” of the resources available, Tomei says.
Globally, there also appears to be low appetite for risk among working-age participants, the report finds, with just 34% saying they are willing to make risky bets to ensure financial stability.
Canada, in particular, is among the most risk-averse as only 22% of survey participants are willing to take on losses compared with 61% in China and 47% in Taiwan — the countries in the highest bracket.
This aversion to risk may explain why many pre-retirees in Canada still view property as a reliable savings vehicle, with about 38% of pre-retirees saying real estate can deliver the best returns — although that’s below the global average of 47%. However, only 16% of working Canadians expect to use income generated from a real-estate investment to finance their retirement.
Although there are no significant generational differences on when pre-retiree participants expect to retire, about 54% agree that millennials are paying for the “economic consequences” older generations have wrought, such as the global financial crisis and rising national debt.
Still, the report suggests that among the millennials surveyed globally, there’s a greater appetite for taking on risky investments for the sake of financial stability. About 39% of millennials are willing to make risky investments vs 33% of Generation Xers and 22% of baby boomers.
Ipsos MORI conducted the online survey, which took place between November 2016 and January 2017, for HSBC.
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