Like American Counterparts, Canadians Expect to Work in Retirement Years

Mandatory retirement will be illegal in Canada beginning Tuesday, and a new survey finds that this will have quite an effect on the Canadian working population.
Reported by Rebecca Moore

Seventy-three percent of pre-retirees expect to work into their retirement years, although survey respondents, regardless of retirement status, age, gender or level of wealth, would prefer not to work, according to a BMO Financial Group news release about their recent study, conducted by Ipsos Reid.

Ideally, respondents said they would rather spend their retirement years traveling, engaging in hobbies, spending time with family and friends, and doing volunteer work. Working into retirement was not just about making money, the survey found, as 71% of respondents said they expect to continue working to be mentally active. While 69% did say earning money would be the reason to continue working, 63% also said keeping in touch with people would be a motivation, according to the news release.

Further, 91% of Ontario baby boomers said they are willing to continue to work if they are not able to save enough to fund their retirement, according to BMO. Seventy-two percent of Ontario boomers surveyed said they do not feel they are on track with saving for their retirement or do not know if they are on track.

More information can be found at www.bmo.com/retirementyourway.