Canadians believe they need $1.7 million to retire, according to the Bank of Montreal’s (BMO) new annual retirement study.
This is up 20 per cent compared to 2020. The report, which was released Tuesday, studies Canadians’ expectations and approaches to retirement planning.
The report reveals fewer than half of the Canadian respondents are confident they will have enough money to retire as planned, a 10-per cent decrease from 2020.
Meanwhile, 43 per cent of Canadians said they have already contributed to their RRSPs for the 2022 tax year, and another 14 per cent plan to contribute before the March 1 deadline.
This comes amid an economic backdrop of high inflation, increased interest rates, and talks of a recession.
BMO says the average amount held in RRSPs nationally is $144,613, a-two per cent increase from 2021.
Twenty-three per cent of Canadians plan to retire between the ages of 60 and 69, with an average age of 62, whereas 23 per cent of Canadians are planning to retire early and would like to retire at age 54, according to BMO.
Another poll by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) suggests Ontarians need more encouragement to save for their golden years.
Of the respondents, 88 per cent feel more needs to be done to encourage people to save for retirement, and 60 per cent feel there is not enough public information available about pensions.
This poll comes the same day TD Bank released a survey, showing six in 10 Canadians are concerned about their financial future and worry about investing.
Six in 10 Canadians said they’re worried about getting through the next year and haven’t started thinking about their future financial security.
These concerns extended to their investments as well. Sixty-two per cent of respondents agreed the market is too risky for them to invest in right now, and 59 per cent stated they didn’t contribute to any investments in 2022.
“The state of the economy has intensified Canadians’ anxieties when it comes to their finances and investments,” Vice President, Savings & Investing Journey at TD, Pat Giles, said in a news release. “Many are struggling to balance competing spending priorities and their financial goals may have changed as a result. That’s why it’s more important than ever to seek trusted advice to help you navigate times of economic turbulence.”
The BMO study was conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights via an online survey of 1,500 adult Canadians between Oct. 26 and 29, 2021. The margin of error for a probability sample of this size is plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
The TD Bank study results are based on an Ipsos poll conducted online between Dec. 8 to 16, 2022. A sample of 2,001 Canadians aged 18 and over were interviewed online for this survey.
