Retirement Income Should Be Adequate for Most Canadian Retirees

"A life spent making mistakes," stated George Bernard Shaw, "is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."

On that note, perhaps you are doing nothing at your job aside from putting in time.

Then it's time to retire.

But you are afraid to make a mistake because you may not have enough retirement income.

This information comes from Statistics Canada:

About two-thirds of "near-retirees" anticipate that their retirement income will be adequate or more than adequate to maintain their standard of living once they have left the workforce.

Individuals who receive advice are more likely than others to express confidence in the adequacy of their retirement savings to maintain their standard of living in retirement.

While most Canadians approaching retirement receive financial advice, including advice about retirement planning and programs, almost 3 in 10 do not.

Individuals who do not receive financial advice are less likely to expect their retirement income to be adequate than those who do receive advice. This relationship remains even when other characteristics such as income, pension coverage and registered retirement savings plan assets are taken into account.

Of the 7.2 million Canadians aged 45 to 59 in 2007, about 80% or 5.7 million were actively or recently employed and had not previously retired.

Of these 5.7 million near-retirees, 71% received financial advice from at least one source, and 50% received advice from at least one source in the financial industry. Almost 3 in 10 (29%) did not receive financial advice from any source.

While most individuals approaching retirement said they understood Canada's public retirement income programs, such as the Canada Pension Plan, Quebec Pension Plan and Old Age Security, one-quarter said they did not understand these programs at all.

A number of factors are associated with the likelihood of receiving financial advice and understanding public programs related to retirement preparations. These factors include an individual's proximity to retirement, financial resources, and demographic characteristics.