A recent survey finds stark differences among Canadians both in their expectations for retirement and the stress that comes from thinking about retirement savings.
The survey for Toronto-based Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. was conducted in January and polled Canadians aged 18 and over.
When asked how they believe their retirement will differ from previous generations, pre-retirees were pretty evenly split, with 31 per cent of respondents indicating that they believe it will be better, 36 per cent indicating that they believe it will be worse, and 32 per cent believing it will be similar.
However, pre-retirees in the 45 to 54 age range expressed the greatest concern, with 41 per cent expecting their retirement to be worse than previous generations and only 26 per cent expecting it to be better.
Pre-retirees aged 18 to 24 showed more optimism, with 37 per cent holding a better outlook for retirement.
“The survey findings highlight some very real concerns and uncertainty among Canadians over what they can expect in retirement,” says Philip Bensen, senior vice president, head of national sales – Canada.
Those concerns include the increasing inability of government pensions and programs to contribute to a secure retirement, lingering fears from the 2008 recession, and fears about job loss and its impact on retirement savings.
When asked how they would characterize the stress and anxiety that comes from thinking about their retirement savings, respondents aged 18 to 24 and those aged 65 and over indicated the lowest levels of stress, with 40 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively, citing that their retirement savings do not cause any stress or anxiety. Those indicating the highest levels of stress were respondents aged 45 to 54, with 78 per cent indicating at least some level of stress and 38 per cent labelling this stress as moderate or significant.
“It was interesting to see that the highest level of anxiety peaked 11 to 15 years before retirement, indicating that people begin thinking about their retirement income strategies earlier than expected,” says Michael Doshier, vice president of retirement marketing.
“When asked what they expect to be their top concern during retirement, pre-retirees aged 45 to 54 selected running out of money as well as concerns about health and medical issues—with each representing the top concern of about a third (33 per cent) of respondents in this age range. In the 55 to 64 pre-retiree age range, health and medical issues (39 per cent) began to exceed running out of money (32 per cent) as the top concern.”
While “retire later” was the top response (66 per cent) from Canadian pre-retirees who were asked what they would do if unable to retire as planned due to insufficient income, nearly one-third (29 per cent) of retired survey respondents indicated that they did not retire by choice.
The survey was conducted online among a sample of 2,014 Canadians ages 18 and older. The survey was administered from January 3 to 16, 2014 by ORC International’s Online CARAVAN.