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How will you be paying for that? RBC poll examines sources
of retirement income
Half of Canadians expect pensions to be their largest source
of retirement income
TORONTO, February 8, 2010 — Half of Canadians
(54 per cent) expect their pensions - whether a pension from
an employer (29 per cent) or a government pension (25 per
cent) - to be the single, largest source of income in retirement,
followed by income from their investments (18 per cent), according
to the 20th Annual RBC RRSP Poll. Yet, one-in-five (19 per
cent) do not know what kind of pension plan they have.
Canadians expect part-time or occasional work (26 per cent)
and income from their own investments (24 per cent) to be
supplementary sources of income during retirement. Thirty
per cent of Canadians aged 35-54 expect to be working in retirement,
suggesting the concept of a traditional retirement is disappearing.
"It's important for Canadians to understand and be aware
of all available retirement income sources in order to make
informed decisions about financing their retirement,"
said Lee Anne Davies, head, Retirement Strategies, RBC Royal
Bank. "Having a financial plan ensures you are not relying
too much on any particular source of income and are aware
of all of your options."
Having enough money for a comfortable retirement (68 per
cent) is the most important consideration in deciding when
to retire. However, half of Canadians (53 per cent) who have
established financial goals feel they are somewhat short or
nowhere close to where they think they should be to ensure
a comfortable retirement, up from 36 per cent in 2007.
On average, retirees have a goal of nearly $270,000 as the
amount of money required for a comfortable retirement, down
from nearly $450,000 in 2007. People not yet retired think
they will need nearly two and half times that amount, or almost
$660,000, down from almost $900,000 in 2007.
Furthermore, the gap between men's and women's retirement
savings goals, has significantly narrowed from a difference
of $366,000 in 2007 down to $136,000 in 2009. Men had a retirement
goal of $922,000 in 2007, which fell to $555,000 in 2009 while
women had a retirement goal of $556,000 in 2007, which fell
to $419,000 in 2009.
"Clearly the recent economic turmoil has had an especially
sobering effect on men's savings objectives," said Davies.
"Whereas women tend to be more long-term focused, which
explains why their retirement savings goals have been less
affected by short-term changes in the market."
These are some of the findings from the RBC 20th Annual RBC
Poll conducted by Ipsos Reid between October 21 and November
2, 2009. For this survey, a national sample of 1,457 adults
from Ipsos' Canadian online panel were interviewed online.
Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure
that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population
according to Census data and to provide results intended to
approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted
probability sample of this size and a 100 per cent response
rate would have an estimated margin of error of ±2.56
percentage points 19 times out of 20 of what the results would
have been had the entire population of adults in Canada been
polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other
sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error,
and measurement error.
Your Future by Design® is RBC's distinctive approach
to help clients identify, plan, and realize their goals for
retirement. With the guidance of RBC financial planners and
investment and retirement planners, Your Future by Design
helps clients create a blueprint for a successful lifestyle
and a financial plan for retirement based on what is truly
important to them in key areas of life, including family,
health, home, lifestyle, work/business, mind and spirit, and
legacy. To find out more about how RBC can help build a blueprint
for the future, visit www.rbc.com/yourfuture
or call 1-866-335-4055.
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Media contacts:
Suzanne Willers, RBC, 416-974-2727
Cyndi Maisonneuve, RBC, 416-974-1757
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