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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 9, 2014) - With Mother's Day just around the corner, BMO Nesbitt Burns has released a study which found that being able to afford their ideal retirement (83 per cent) and having enough money to fund their children's education (67 per cent) are the top concerns keeping moms up at night.

Other concerns cited by Canadian mothers include:

• Having enough money to cover household bills and other expenses (67 per cent)
• Being able to pay off debt (64 per cent)
• Having enough money to pay down their mortgage in their desired timeframe (58 per cent)

"It's not surprising that mothers across the country are concerned about saving for retirement and their children's education," stated Charyl Galpin, Co-Head, BMO Nesbitt Burns. "Canadians feel they need, on average, more than $650,000 for retirement, and a post-secondary education may cost as much as $140,000 for a child born in 2013."*

Ms. Galpin continued, "We're talking about significant amounts of money. While it may seem overwhelming at first, it's not unachievable. It all starts with meeting with a financial professional and working with them to construct a well thought out and realistic financial plan. This can create a lot of peace of mind for the entire family and help ensure goals are met."

A financial plan helps people work towards their short and long-term goals, like the purchase of a new home, saving for a child's education or investing for retirement. It provides a roadmap that outlines the path from where they are today to where they want to be in the future. At BMO, the process begins with a financial professional reviewing a person's finances, including assets, liabilities, income, spending habits and investments. We then build a personalized plan that takes these items and risk tolerance into account and fits with the rest of his/her life.

Despite the many advantages of having a financial plan, the BMO Nesbitt Burns study found that 40 per cent of mothers stated that they or their family do not have a financial plan - potentially putting these families at risk of not being able to fund key life events.

The study also found that 85 per cent of moms are concerned about the current overall state of the economy. However, despite this gloomy outlook, almost 60 per cent are upbeat about what the future has in store for the economy and 44 per cent are optimistic that their children will be better off than them financially (versus just 27 per cent who feel that they will be worse off).

What does mom want this Mother's Day? Just a little TLC!

On a lighter note, the study also found that an overwhelming 94 per cent of moms would be happy with receiving some affection from and sharing some quality time with their families this Mother's Day, rather than having their kids and spouses go all out and spoil them with gifts.

"As important as it is to develop a financial plan, it's just as important to show moms some love and attention on Sunday," said Ms. Galpin. "As a mother myself, I can vouch that moms don't need the big ticket gifts as long as you show them how much they mean to you. This can be as simple as a breakfast in bed, a card and a hug."

The survey was conducted by Pollara between April 25 and April 28, 2014 with an online sample of 501 adult Canadian women with children. The margin of error for a probability sample of this size is ± 4.4%, 19 times out of 20.

*Retirement figure from BMO/Pollara study (August 2013); Education figure from BMO Wealth Institute Report: Student tuition and debt on the rise: RESPs and beyond (March 2013).

For more information on financial planning locate a BMO Nesbitt Burns Investment Advisor at www.bmo.com/nesbittburns.

For more information on wealth management news at BMO please visit http://www.linkedin.com/company/bmo-wealth-management-services-canada?trk=top_nav_home.

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