Many boomers won’t change lifestyle despite worries about retirement savings

Theglobeandmail.com
Feb. 14, 2017
By Josh O’Kane

As Canadian boomers live longer, the question of whether they’ll outlive their money is lingering longer in their heads.

Royal Bank of Canada released a “Financial Independence in Retirement” poll Wednesday, revealing that nearly half of surveyed Canadians over the age of 55 - 46 per cent - feel that they’re falling short of saving enough to retire - but only a third are now willing to tweak their lifestyle plans to face that reality.

As more boomers speed towards retirement, longer life expectancy can come with added responsibility; somehow, they have to pay for all those bonus years. The survey’s results highlight the importance of forethought not just as retirement nears, but as early as possible, in order to be able to afford one’s needs - and wants - later in life.

Among the top concerns of the boomers surveyed was their ability to maintain their current standard of living and to cover the costs of health care. When asked to rank questions they had about their later years, “Will I have enough money in retirement?” came in the top spot.

Other concerns among looming retirees included how to make the most out of savings, how to deal with inflation, what lifestyle changes to make, and how to manage debt in retirement.

Past iterations of the RBC poll highlighted, among other things, the lack of retirement income among Canadians. In 2016, it found that 31 per cent of Canadians hadn’t begun to save for that phase of their life.

The findings are from a broader annual poll conducted by the bank ahead of the registered retirement savings plan deadline, which this year is March 1. More than 2,000 adult Canadians took the online survey, conducted by Ipsos last November.