A new survey by Royal Bank finds 85% of British Columbians feel they haven’t saved enough for retirement while 33% expect to outlive their savings by 10 years or more.
The biennial survey looks at how financially prepared Canadians feel – and, the numbers appear to show they don’t feel prepared at all
Amid skyrocketing inflation and costs of living, the survey also found 68% of B.C. pre-retirees are anxious about spending their savings in retirement. The other provinces were about close to the same with Alberta 62%, Winnipeg 62%, Quebec 53%, Ontario 51%, Manitoba 47%.
Only 16% of respondents reported sitting down with a financial planner (lowest nationally) to create a retirement plan.
Almost one quarter of (22%) said that their plan is “in their head.”
While the numbers are close to the national stats, but British Columbians are registering higher than the national average of 55%, they are more anxious than the rest of the nation
Women are more likely to feel they haven’t saved enough (85% vs 82% nationally), and more of them expect to outlive their money (35%) – not surprising since women typically live longer.
To help mitigate any shortfall, it’s important to know all your expected sources of income in retirement and be able to forecast the amount of money you anticipate will come from those sources, says Rick Lowes, vice-president of retirement strategy at RBC.
“Trying to figure out your retirement income sources and the impact they will have on your cash flow and taxes can seem like a daunting task – but this is crucial to helping you plan ahead to manage any shortfalls,” says Lowes.
“After a lifetime of saving, we know it can be difficult to make the shift into spending those savings, particularly if you don’t understand your income sources and whether they will last throughout your retirement.
The RBC Retirement Myths & Realities Poll was conducted between May 21 and June 1, 2021, using a sample of 2,200 Canadians aged 50-plus.
