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Traditional retirement dreams vanishing in Canada

Almost one third of Canadians aged 35-54 expect to be working in their retirement years.

Toronto (9 Feb. 2010) - The number of Canadians who believe they are saving too little for retirement has jumped significantly in the last three years, finds a survey commissioned by the Royal Bank.

The percentage of those with financial goals who feel they are somewhat short or nowhere close to putting away what they need for a comfortable retirement has risen from 36% to 54% since 2007, the survey finds.

The period corresponds with the worst recession since the Great Depression.

On average, those polled expect to need almost $660,000 to retire comfortably. A majority (54%) expect pensions to provide their biggest source of retirement income. Yet 19% of those surveyed did not know how much income their pensions would actually provide.

The survey found nearly one third (30%) of Canadians aged 35-54 expect to be working in their retirement years, suggesting that the concept of traditional retirement is disappearing.

Conducted last October and November by Ipsos Reid, the poll involved 1,457 adults. They were interviewed online.

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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE

More information:
• How will you be paying for that? RBC poll examines sources of retirement income