A new survey suggests a growing number of older Canadians are rethinking their retirement plans, amid deteriorating economic conditions.
More than half (54 per cent) of those surveyed aged 55 and up said they had or were planning to delay their retirement due to mounting inflation and cost of living increases this year alone.
The poll was conducted between June 9 and June 12 by the Angus Reid Institute for financial advisors Advisorsavvy and debt consolidation firm Bromwich and Smith.
“It’s a combination of factors, coming out of the pandemic, the war that’s going on and inflation. People are feeling inflation, whether its at the pumps, whether its in the grocery store or whether its just the general cost of housing,” Advisorsavvy founder Sol Amos told Global News.
“A lot of these factors wouldn’t have been considered when people were planning their retirement 10 or 15 years ago.”
Along with the rising cost of living, the poll found several other major factors delaying Canadians’ retirement plans.
More than six in ten respondents said they had or would delay retirement because they didn’t have enough savings or investments, while four in ten said were doing the same because of too much debt.
More than a quarter of respondents reported putting retirement on hold because they had children who needed financial support.
The survey also found significant financial anxiety among retirement-age Canadians on numerous fronts.
More than seven in 10 reported fears they would run out of money after retirement, while more than six in 10 said they feared they’d never be able to retire.
Just under a quarter of respondents said they feared they’d have to go back to work after retiring because of the rising cost of living.
“For those that are 55-plus that are concerned about the delay or worried they won’t have enough money, there’s really a couple of things they can look at,” Amos said.
“One is looking at the time horizon they originally would have predicted for their retirement and saying ‘can I delay that five or eight years?'”
People with retirement concerns can review their spending habits and see if there are things they can forego in the short term, he suggested.
With rising interest rates, people carrying debt may want to look at eliminating it as quickly as possible, he added.
Amos also suggested Canadians struggling with retirement anxiety consider talking to a money management professional, such as a financial planner, investment advisor or licensed insolvency trustee.
“Revisit those numbers and see how long you might need to push it out,” he said.
The Angus Reid Institute survey was conducted between June 9 and June 12, 2022, among an online representative sample of 1,519 Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. For comparison purposes, the sample plan would carry a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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