A new survey by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) has found the magic dollar amount people feel they will need to save in order to have a comfortable retirement: $756,000.
Unfortunately, few Canadian adults are close to accumulating even a fraction of that $756,000. On average, Canadians have saved $184,000 for retirement, according to the CIBC poll of 1,523 people that took place in mid-January. Of those surveyed, 30% said they had no savings at all, while 19% have less than $50,000 tucked away for retirement.
Among people polled who are close to retirement age – people between the ages of 45 and 64 – the average amount saved is $345,000, while 49% of people have saved less than $250,000. And, a majority (53%) of people told CIBC that they aren’t sure whether they’re saving enough money for retirement, while 37% haven’t even thought about retirement, or say they can’t afford to save any money at all.
Not surprising, many Canadians surveyed said they plan to live in retirement on the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and, for those with no other resources, the Guaranteed Income Supplement given to seniors whose income is below a certain threshold.
Still, Canadians are doing better in terms of saving for retirement than their peers south of the border. According to the Economic Policy Institute, almost half of American families have no savings at all, and among those that have saved for retirement, the median amount among individuals is just US$5,000. The median retirement savings for U.S. families is US$60,000.
