Living on a fixed income has taught Canadian retirees a valuable lesson on the importance of budgeting, according to a Harris-Decima poll commissioned by CIBC.

Two-thirds of retirees said they have a budget in place and use it to track their monthly spending, slightly ahead of the 60% of all other Canadians. But where retirees really shine is in their confidence: 43% said they felt they were doing a “very good job” at managing their budget, compared to just 25% of all other Canadians.

“Many retired Canadians have managed their money successfully through different economic environments over the years, and their strong focus on budget management is clearly one of the keys to that success,” says Christina Kramer, executive vice-president of retail distribution for CIBC.

How retirees see their budgeting skills in 2011
• Very Good: 43%
• Good: 30%
• Fair: 17%
• Poor: 6%
• Very Poor: 2%

True to stereotypical form, only 14% of retirees felt other Canadians were doing a good job managing their spending, and just 13% though the young ‘uns were making gains in building savings.

But there are some things retirees could be doing better; they could be more vigilant in visiting their advisor, as only 56% said they had done so in the past year.

“Active management of investments is even more important once you have shifted into retirement to ensure they provide the income necessary to maintain the lifestyle you want,” says Kramer.

Atlantic Canada Quebec Ontario Manitoba / Saskatchewan Alberta British Columbia
Percentage of retirees with a budget they track each month 66% 71% 67% 64% 69% 58%
Percentage of retirees who have consulted with an advisor in the last 12 months 49% 49% 64% 48% 57% 54%

Each week, Harris/Decima interviews just over 1000 Canadians through teleVox, the company’s national telephone omnibus survey. These data were gathered in a sample of 660 retired Canadians between May 26 and June 5, 2011. A sample of this size has a margin of error of +/-3.8%, 19 times out of 20.