News Releases

Although willpower is especially useful this time of year when many are making New Year's resolutions, it doesn't seem to be the key ingredient: overall Canadians appear to have a mediocre track record when it actually comes to achieving them.

According to a BMO Financial Group study conducted by Angus Reid Strategies, almost all Canadians (96%) make New Year's resolutions. Even though three quarters of Canadians (71%) believe that women are stronger than men when it comes to willpower and determination, the study found that both sexes have equally low success rates with only 19 per cent of either sex indicating that they generally achieve their resolutions.

If your resolution this year is to work towards having a dream retirement in 20 years, you are in the minority. The study reveals that when it comes to thinking about the future, two-thirds of Canadians are planning only for the next five years or less (12% are planning a day ahead, 31% a year in advance and 23% are planning for the next 2-4 years). Approximately one-in-five Canadians indicated that they don't plan at all. Only two per cent of respondents indicated that they plan 20 years down the road, which could have serious implications for their retirement planning.

“If the key to a fulfilling retirement rests on sheer willpower alone, women would likely be leading long and happy lives while men could find themselves in the poor house,” said Kris Vikmanis, Head of Retirement Market, BMO Financial Group. “We know that Canadian boomers have some lofty ideas about how they would like to spend their time when they retire, but many people spend more time planning a week-long vacation than they do planning for a retirement that could last 20 to 30 years.”

Vikmanis suspects the same thing that keeps many of us from achieving a simple New Year's resolution can also undermine our dreams for enjoying a comfortable and satisfying retirement - namely, the lack of a detailed plan that maps out what we want to do and how we intend to do it.

According to the study, more resolutions would be kept if Canadians committed to creating a plan or asked for help. Almost two-thirds of respondents believe developing an action plan or receiving professional assistance would help them achieve their goals. Interestingly, 36 per cent of Canadians believe having more money would help them meet their New Year's resolutions.

“Typically, January is the month during which we set out to make a fresh start in our lives. Whether it's losing weight, changing careers or saving more money, coming up with a clear goal and a plan of action are the first steps to achieving it,” said Vikmanis. “Although it does take willpower to make changes to your financial situation, developing an action plan in which you assess your values, explore your dreams, and set some goals is an important step – and it's not as daunting as it sounds. At BMO we've developed a 'thought book' that can help our baby boomer clients begin to identify their dreams and develop a plan to live a fulfilling retirement."

Additional findings:

Which do you think is the stronger sex when it comes to willpower:?

Do you generally achieve your New Year's resolutions?

What Canadian would you pick as your personal coach to help you achieve your resolutions and other future goals and plans?
(top 3 English choices)
David Suzuki 14% of respondents
Wayne Gretzky 11%
Rick Mercer 8%

What is your New Year's resolution for 2008?
Top 3 choices:

From December 17 to 18, 2007, Angus Reid Strategies conducted an online survey among a randomly selected, representative sample of 1025 adult Canadians. The margin of error for the total sample is /- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to Statistics Canada's most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a representative sample of the entire adult population of Canada.