Poll: Most Canadians nearing retirement plan to work in their 60s

Toronto - Another sombre financial poll released suggests that Canadians who are in their 50s are planning to work in their retirement. One of the primary reasons was that they didn't save enough as expected.

It seems the financial woes of average Canadians persist. Digital Journal reported on a poll last week that showed close to half of the country doesn’t have an emergency savings fund, including the younger age groups. A new survey from CIBC conducted by Leger Marketing finds that 50-somethings are now expected to work in their retirement years. The online study found that 53 percent of those in their 50s are planning to work in their 60s, while most will work part-time to supplement their pension. Nearly two-thirds say they have fallen short of their savings goal and 45 percent noted they have less than $100,000 put away for their winter years. The survey did find that on average that Canadians in their 50s plan to retire at the age of 63. “The retirement landscape is shifting as the baby boomers reach traditional retirement age with a smaller nest egg than they expected to have," said Christina Kramer, Executive Vice President of Retail Distribution and Channel Strategy for CIBC, in a news release. “Many Canadians are now planning to draw on multiple sources of income including employment to fund their retirement, and that makes getting advice about how to manage your income, savings, and investments even more important." Upon further analysis of the demographics, those in Atlantic Canada and Quebec said their scheduled age to retire at is 62. British Columbia and Alberta residents had the highest age of 64 years old. Meanwhile, the provinces with the most number of people planning to work part-time in retirement are Manitoba (59 percent), Saskatchewan (59 percent), Alberta (57 percent) and Ontario 55 percent). Once again, Atlantic Canada and Quebec had the lowest figures of people planning to work in retirement with 54 percent and 47 percent, respectively. The online survey was conducted with 805 pre-retired Canadians between 50 and 59 years of age from Jul. 5 to Jul. 8. It contains a margin of error of +/- 3.45 percentage points.