Canada / Many workers financially unprepared for retirement

Canadian workers are expecting to work well beyond the traditional retirement age of 65 for a variety of reasons – many because they predict they will have to financially – while others are preparing to work throughout their entire golden years for pleasure, if recent survey data is any indication.

Many workers cite being financially unprepared for retirement as one of the main reasons to continue working into so-called retirement, while a significant portion – 17 per cent – don’t expect to ever be fully retired.

“Our traditional thoughts around people retiring around 65 is really going to shift,\” says Steven Van Alstine, vice-president of education for the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA).

“People are not going to have what they need to fully retire … in terms of reaching that financial goal.”

The CPA conducted a survey recently that found 73 per cent of respondents say they have put aside less than a quarter of what they’ll need in retirement.

Among those aged 50 or older, about half (47 per cent) are still less than one-quarter of the way to achieving their retirement savings target.

“Many employees know they have to save more,” notes Charmaine Marsden, chair of the CPA, in the report. “Not saving enough is the top reason cited in the survey for having to work beyond their planned retirement date.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via Golden years lose their lustre.