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According to a survey conducted for BMO Financial Group by Ipsos Reid, boomers in Quebec are expecting to spend fewer years in full retirement than their Canadian counterparts, which may help to explain why many don't have RSPs or financial plans.

The survey of 1,411 Canadians aged 45 – 60 revealed that 48 per cent of Quebec boomers are expecting to spend less than 10 years retired and 22 per cent expect between 10-15 years, in contrast to the national average of 33 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. When it comes to saving and planning for retirement, 36 per cent of boomers in Quebec don't have RSPs compared with 30 per cent of their fellow boomers and even fewer have financial plans (47% vs. 34%).

Of those Quebec boomers who don't have RSPs, 25 per cent don't know how they are going to fund their retirement, while some are looking to other sources such as government (31%), company pension (24%), other savings or investments (16%), or spouse or children (9%). Meanwhile, 47 per cent of those boomers in Quebec who do have RSPs said they monitor their investments only once a year around the annual contribution deadline and half consider their RSP to be their financial plan.

“It's fair to conclude that having a shorter retirement likely means Quebec boomers will need less money to fund that time of their lives. However, if they want to take control over their retirement destiny, Boomers in Quebec need to act now and develop a retirement plan,” said Michel Belanger, Regional Sales Manager, BMO Mutual Funds.

When asked what they are currently saving for, 64 per cent of Quebec boomers ranked retirement first, followed by the “unexpected” (45%), travel (27%) and children's education (13%).Yet, while more than half of Quebec boomers said they are saving for retirement, many are spending more time planning other activities than their retirement. Half of Quebec boomers said they spend more time planning their exercise than their retirement, 43 per cent planning travel, 42 per cent planning home renovations, 39 per cent planning their diet and 29 per cent spend more time planning their car maintenance than their retirement.

“This aversion to planning for retirement is a consistent finding in all of our research. While some are better prepared than others, it appears that there is a common reluctance among Canadian boomers to plan for something that is perceived to be so far down the road when there are many other priorities to deal with,” said Belanger.

Yet, many boomers acknowledge the importance of saving and planning for retirement. In previous BMO-Ipsos Reid research, 81 per cent of Canadian boomers agreed that they wished they had started earlier, even in their teens, to save for retirement and 91 per cent agreed that having enough money for retirement requires a lot of planning and advice to reach your goals.

“Retirement represents uncharted territory for boomers - so it's all the more important for them to start considering a variety of contingencies and lifestyle choices today. Whether they plan to continue working through their traditional retirement years, volunteer or hit the road and travel around the world, we need to help them conceptualize what they want their retirement to look like so that they can plan ahead to fund the lifestyle they want to enjoy in the future,” added Belanger.

Additional research findings –

Do you spend more time planning for these activities than planning for retirement?

What do you think would most appeal to you at age 62?

Full results available upon request.

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