Study: Canadians to work after retirement

But 38% of those individuals don’t really have much choice in the matter, as they need to stay in the workforce out of financial necessity. Opinions differ when it comes to how much Canadians believe is needed to fund their retirement dreams.

Responding to the survey:

• 56% of Canadians think they will need less than one million dollars.
• Half of that 56% believe they will need less than $300,000.
• 28% think they will need between one and two million dollars.
• 16% believe they will need two million dollars or more.

“While there’s no magic number that Canadians should be aiming for when saving for retirement, it’s important that Canadians are realistic about how they plan to spend their retirement and how much it will cost,” said Gillian Riley, senior vice-president and head of retail payments, deposits and lending at Scotiabank.

“Whether it be $250,000 or $1,000,000, it can be daunting to think about needing such a large sum of money, so it is equally important for Canadians to consider how much they can afford to put away for retirement and understand what that amount will mean for them down the road.”

Of those participating in the survey, 78% of Canadians will be funding their retirement through RRSPs and 68% will be using their savings. 63% will be relying on government payouts to finance things while 55% will look to their work pension and 27% will rely on an inheritance of some kind.

So what do Canadians say they will be doing during their retirement?

• Traveling (86%)
• Spending time with family, friends (72%)
• Reading (61%)
• Exercising (60%)
• Participating in a hobby (50%)
• Returning to school (24%)

The Scotiabank study was conducted by Harris/Decima. A total of 1,011 completed surveys were collected from a random sample of Harris/Decima’s panel members across Canada, of which 731 expect to retire.