Majority of 45 to 59 year olds anticipate a comfortable life after retirement: StatsCan

Workers who don't receive financial planning advice are less optimistic than those who do

About two-thirds of workers aged 45 to 59 think their retirement income will be adequate enough to maintain their standard of living once they have left the workforce, according to two new reports from Statistics Canada.

The Retirement Plans and Expectations of Older Workers and The Retirement Puzzle: Sorting the Pieces found that while most Canadians approaching retirement receive financial advice, including advice about retirement planning and programs, almost three in 10 do not. Those who don't receive advice are less likely to expect their retirement income to be adequate than those who do receive advice.

Of the 7.2 million Canadians aged 45 to 59 in 2007, about 80 per cent or 5.7 million were actively or recently employed and had not previously retired.

Of these 5.7 million near-retirees, 71 per cent received financial advice from at least one source, and 50 per cent received advice from at least one source in the financial industry.

Individuals who are further from their planned age of retirement are less likely to receive retirement-related information. In 2007 83 per cent of individuals who planned to retire within five years received financial advice, compared with 67 per cent of those for whom retirement was 15 or more years away.

Near-retirees with lower incomes and fewer assets are also less likely to receive retirement-related information. For example, 52 per cent of near-retirees with household incomes under $40,000 received financial advice compared with 82 per cent of near-retirees with household incomes of $100,000 or more.

Immigrants who arrived in Canada since 1990 were less likely to receive financial advice than individuals born in Canada.

While most individuals approaching retirement said they understood Canada's public retirement income programs, such as the Canada Pension Plan, Quebec Pension Plan and Old Age Security, one-quarter said they don't understand these programs at all. Individuals with lower household incomes were less likely to say they understood these programs.

To read the full story, login below.

Not a subscriber?

Start your subscription today!