This is an archive of news stories and research from the National Union of Public and General Employees. Please see our new site - https://nupge.ca - for the most current information.
Only 30 percent of women have a formal financial plan to meet their retirement goals
Toronto (14 October 2009) – Despite holding their ground in terms of managing their finances well during the recession, the majority of women have concerns about the state of their retirement investments.
This is according to the TD Waterhouse's ninth annual Female Investor Poll. The poll examines Canadian women's investing and financial planning behaviour. The results are based on interviews conducted with 1,432 Canadian women 45 to 64-years-old who have sole or shared responsibility for household financial planning or investment decisions.
Although 44 percent of women interviewed said they were "reasonably contented", 52 percent classified themselves as "mildly concerned" or "worried". These concerns range from feeling they are missing opportunities due to a lack of knowledge to worrying they have not done enough to retire comfortably. Respondents were least confident in achieving their goal of a comfortable retirement with only 20 percent saying they are "very confident" they can make this happen.
"Women today have many priorities - their family, friends, health, giving back to the community. Finances are just another aspect of our lives that we have to balance, so it's understandable that many of us feel unsure about our futures," says Patricia Lovett-Reid, Senior Vice-President, TD Waterhouse.
While 97 percent of those surveyed said that assuring a comfortable standard of living during retirement is a top financial goal, only 30 percent have a formal financial plan and 27 percent of non-retired women aged 45-64 do not know how much money they need to accumulate before they retire in order to meet their retirement goals.
The survey also identified the following as the top financial goals of women:
- comfortably managing day-to-day living expenses (97 percent)
- assuring a comfortable standard of living during retirement (97 percent)
- saving for emergencies (96 percent)
- paying off credit card balances and loans (90 percent)
NUPGE
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