85% of British Columbians feel they have not saved enough for retirement. And amid rising inflation and rising cost of living, 68% are eager to spend their savings
A new Royal Bank poll reveals that 85% of British Columbians believe they have not saved enough for retirement. And 33% expect to outlive their savings for 10 years or more.
Meanwhile, inflation shows no signs of slowing, rising to an annual rate of 6.7% in March – a high not seen since January 1991, when the GST was introduced.
Gasoline leads with a 38.8% jump in March from a year ago and an 11.8% jump from February.
Inflation is also hitting Canadians hard on the grocery aisle with prices up sharply from March 2021: pasta +17.8%; butter +16%; cheese +10.4%; eggs and dairy products; +8.5%; and milk, +7.7%.
Amid rising inflation and rising costs of living, the RBC survey also found that 68% of pre-retirees in British Columbia are anxious about spending their retirement savings.
Only 16% of respondents said they had spoken with a financial planner (the lowest nationally) to create a retirement plan. Almost a quarter of respondents (22%) said their plan was “in their head”.
British Columbians are significantly more anxious than the rest of the country (55%), possibly due to high housing and rental costs. They are also less likely to have a financial plan of any kind (43% vs. 50%).
Women are more likely to think they haven’t saved enough (85% vs. 82% nationally) and more expect to outlive their money (35%) – which doesn’t is not surprising since women generally live longer.
