Canadians now expect to need $1.7 million to retire, up 20% from 2020, BMO survey finds

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Only 44% of Canadians are confident they will have enough

Only 44 per cent of Canadians are confident they will have enough to retire as planned, the study said, a 10 per cent decrease from 2020. Photo by The Canadian Press Canadians believe they will need to save up $1.7 million to retire, up 20 per cent from 2020, according to a study published by BMO Financial Group on Tuesday.

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Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors “While the anticipated headwinds in 2023 will understandably prompt concerns about how inflation and interest rates will affect our finances, Canadians remain resilient and are taking proactive measures to protect and invest in their retirement nest egg,” said Nicole Ow, the head of retail investments at BMO.

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The report said Canadians are prioritizing retirement savings as both contributions and account holdings have increased from the previous year.

However, despite believing they need to save up more money, only 44 per cent of Canadians are confident they will have enough to retire as planned, the study said. This figure represents a 10 per cent decrease from 2020.

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Article content BMO said 74 per cent of those surveyed said they are concerned about how current economic conditions will affect their financial situation, while 59 per cent say it is making them less confident of meeting their retirement goals.

Inflation hit a four-decade high of 8.1 per cent in the summer of 2022 but fell to 6.3 per cent in December and is expected to decline by the end of this year, according to BMO Economics. The sharp increase in CPI in 2022 exceeded wage gains and resulted in a significant loss of most families’ purchasing power, it said.

The BMO survey, conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights, surveyed 1,500 adult Canadians online between Nov. 4 and 7, 2022. The margin of error for a probability sample of this size is ± 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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