What working Canadians can do now to ensure
a financially secure future
- Sun Life survey finds nearly half (47%) of working Canadians
believe there is a serious risk they could outlive their retirement
savings.
- 44% of working Canadians expect to be employed full-time at the
age of 66.1
- Nearly a quarter (23%) of Canadian retirees describe their
lifestyle as 'frugal'.
TORONTO, Nov. 19, 2019 /CNW/ - Getting ready for
retirement is a real concern for Canadians – financial woes are to
blame. According to the 2019 Sun Life Barometer, nearly half (47%)
of working Canadians believe there is a serious risk they could
outlive their retirement savings. This is all too common for many
retirees with nearly a quarter (23%) describing their lifestyle as
'frugal'. Following a strict budget and refraining from spending
money on non-essential items, 72% say their retirement is not what
they were expecting.
"We have a unique perspective on how Canadians are thinking and
feeling when it comes to saving for the future. For most Canadians,
managing day-to-day finances is hard enough, let alone worrying
about planning and saving for the future," said Jacques Goulet, President, Sun Life Canada.
"Sitting down with a financial advisor and talking about your
financial goals is a great first step. Whether it's travelling the
world, paying down a mortgage or entering the years of retirement,
a financial plan can help get you on track."
Among working Canadians, 75% don't have a financial plan and 44%
expect to be employed full-time at the age of 66. It's never too
early to start thinking about retirement, creating piece of mind
for the future. Canadians of all ages and incomes can benefit from
taking action and seeking expert advice when it comes to planning
and saving.
Among the 'frugal' retirees who worked past age 66, nearly
two-thirds (65%) said it was because they needed to work rather
than because they wanted to work (35%). These Canadians simply
aren't prepared for this chapter of their lives, with only 14%
having a financial plan prior to retirement.
"Many Canadians don't realize their employer offers tools and
resources designed to help them achieve lifetime financial
security," said Tom Reid, Senior
Vice-President, Group Retirement Services, Sun Life Canada. "Across
the country, more and more Canadians can access workplace savings
vehicles such as defined contribution pension plans, RRSPs and
TSFAs. These are effective and easy tools for saving. Investing
early and making contributions when you can will pay off in the
long run."
Here are some steps Canadians can take now to build their
retirement income:
- Embrace the value of advice: Through
holistic planning, an advisor can get to know you and your unique
needs. Personalized and tailored advice helps to ensure you're
managing your finances and saving for tomorrow. Take the first step
– use Sun Life's Find an advisor tool to connect with someone near
you.
- Free money is free money: Canadians are missing out
on billions of dollars of potential retirement savings each year by
not taking full advantage of matching contributions by their
employer.
- Small steps turn into big leaps: It's important for
Canadians to realize that small steps now can have a big impact
later. This includes the basics of day-to-day budgeting and saving
for shorter-term goals. Sun Life has a variety of tools and
calculators to help you get started.
1 The age of eligibility for Canada Pension Plan
(CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS).
About the survey
The 2019 Sun Life Barometer is based
on findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between March 28 and April 3, 2019. A sample of
2,901 Canadians was drawn from the Ipsos I-Say online panel: 2,151
employed Canadians aged 20-64 and 750 retired Canadians aged 55-80.
Weighting was employed to balance demographics to ensure that the
composition of each sample (employed Canadians and retired
Canadians) reflects their population according to Census data and
to provide results intended to approximate the sample
universe.
The precision of Ipsos online poll is measured using a
credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within
+/- 2.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20, with credibility
intervals of +/- 2.4 percentage points for the employed sample and
+/- 4.1 percentage points for the retirees sample. All sample
surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error,
including, but not limited to methodological change, coverage error
and measurement error.
About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international
financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and
asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun
Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including
Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong
Kong, the Philippines,
Japan, Indonesia, India, China,
Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of September 30, 2019, Sun
Life had total assets under management of $1,063 billion. For
more information please visit www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New
York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the
ticker symbol SLF.
Note to editors: All figures in Canadian dollars
Media Relations Contact:
Carson MacIsaac
Senior Communications Specialist
Corporate Communications
T. 416-979-6030
carson.macisaac@sunlife.com
SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc.