Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of working Canadians say the coronavirus pandemic has delayed their — or their spouse’s — timeline to retirement, according to a new survey by Ipsos on behalf the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
The survey, which polled more than 1,500 Canadians aged 18 and up, found the top reason for the change in retirement plans was that people will need to work longer to amass enough retirement income, cited by 69 per cent of respondents.
Meanwhile, among those who said they’ll retire sooner, 18 per cent said they’ll do so because at least one spouse has health and safety concerns regarding returning to the workplace. This was followed by seven per cent that said they’re retiring early because at least one spouse has already been laid off and five per cent that cited other reasons.
Read: New surveys highlight discrepancies in retirement readiness
Additionally, 40 per cent of working Canadians said they don’t know when they’ll retire and a further 14 per cent said they don’t expect to ever retire. On the other hand, among respondents who provided an expected retirement age, the average was 62 years — two years sooner than the 2019 average actual retirement age of 64, according to Statistics Canada.
Although half (52 per cent) of working Canadians and 84 per cent of retirees said they expect to live comfortably throughout their retirement, 19 per cent of retirees said they have less than $25,000 in savings and investments. One in three (34 per cent) have less than $100,000 and 16 per cent don’t know how much they have in savings and investments.
As well, 57 per cent of retired Canadians said they have less income in retirement than they did while working. Retired respondents reported an average monthly retirement income of $4,320. Notably, the survey showed a significant discrepancy in reported retirement income between men ($4,892 per month) and women ($3,820 per month).
Read: Canadian near-retirees expect to outlive savings, postpone retirement, finds survey