New Challenges In Retirement

Retirement is changing. Many Canadians will not experience the traditional golden handshake at age 65, followed by a last walk out of the office into a sunset filled with golf and travel. The baby boomers are redefining retirement, just as they redefined many of their life stages, and their golden years may include part-time work, full-time work, consulting or entrepreneurship.

Furthermore, Canadians are living longer, healthier lives than ever
before, and many are dreaming of an early retirement—or already
enjoying one. As a result, retirement today may last 20, 30 or even
40 years. In some cases, people will spend more time in retirement
than they did in the workforce.

That new reality comes with specific planning challenges:

• Starting early in their careers, Canadians can start to develop concrete saving and investment strategies to help them achieve their retirement goals.
• Moving into mid-career, they can also consider insurance solutions to help them navigate potential health challenges.
• As they enter and live in retirement, they can discover fulfilling activities and consider how to transform their accumulated assets into income that lasts a lifetime.

We’re sharing the survey results to help you identify common misconceptions in Canadians’ perceptions of their own retirement preparedness and retirement risks, and significant disconnects between what they want and what they’re doing to achieve it. We hope our findings will enable you to develop more comprehensive plans for your clients through every stage of their lives—which in turn will give them the opportunity to enjoy long, healthy and financially secure retirements.