Most Canadians seem to be leaving their retirement up to chance rather than planning their options, according to a poll conducted for Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada.
While 61 per cent of respondents agree that one of their top concerns is running out of money should they live to age 100, only 39 per cent confirmed they had put any money toward retirement savings in 2014 and almost one third reported they have not yet started saving for retirement.
The results are from the firm’s annual RRSP poll.
The poll found that women especially are unprepared for retirement. Three quarters of the women polled did not have a retirement savings goal, compared to 62% of men. While 55% of men say they have not done any retirement planning, that number jumps up to 67% for women. Fewer women than men have RRSPs, with 39% of women not utilizing the plans as opposed to 31% of men. And 60% of women do not have a financial plan compared to 54% of men.
It can be easy for Canadians to get caught up in their day-to-day lives and avoid focusing on the future, says Richa Hingorani, senior manager, financial planning support at RBC Financial Planning.
However, even an hour or two with a financial planner can make a difference to Canadians’ ability to plan for their futures, as opposed to letting those futures happen by chance, she adds.
Ipsos Reid conducted the poll on behalf of RBC Financial Planning between Nov. 3 and 17, 2014. A sample of 3,205 adult Canadians from the pollster’s Canadian online panel was interviewed online.