TORONTO, Aug. 24 /CNW/ - While building a nest egg for emergencies is important to Canadians of all ages, the necessity of saving for a rainy day is most keenly felt by the younger generation (18-34) and they are just as likely to have a plan in place to achieve their savings goals as those in older age brackets, according to a recent Scotiabank study conducted by Harris/Decima to assess the saving patterns of Canadians.

Forty-nine per cent of young adult Canadians cited having a financial safety net as their top reason for saving money compared to 40 per cent of 35-44 year olds and 42 per cent of those in the 45-54 and 55+ age groups. With respect to their savings habits, 70 per cent of those aged 18-34 said they have a plan in place to achieve their savings goals, which is on par with the national average (68 per cent).

Furthermore, similar to those in the 35-44 and 45-54 age ranges, a majority of younger adults (60 per cent) indicate they are socking away savings on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Those in the 55+ group are more inclined to save on a monthly basis (46 per cent) or less often (29 per cent).

"It is great to see that Canadians of all ages understand the importance of saving for the proverbial rainy day and it is particularly encouraging that the younger generation appears to have strong saving habits in place to meet their goals," said Anna Clarkson, Scotiabank Branch Manager, Calgary.

The Scotiabank study also found that younger Canadians are the most prudent in financing their major purchases, with 38 per cent indicating they would prefer to save up and then pay for the whole thing compared to 28 per cent of those aged 35-44 and 27 per cent in the 45-54 and 55+ age groups.

While Canadians of all ages are equally likely to admit they are saving less than they were six months ago (23 per cent), the younger generation are more likely to say they have started saving more (29 per cent) compared to those 35 years and older (21 per cent).

"This is good news coupled with the fact the Canadians of all ages understand that they can save more money by making small changes to their spending (63 per cent)," added Hardeep Bains, Scotiabank Branch Manager, Surrey, B.C.

"Another great strategy to boost your savings is to make a pre-authorized contribution from your chequing account to your savings or investment account on a regular basis. Whether you're just starting to earn a pay cheque or you're in your highest earning-highest spending years with a mortgage, kids and tuition fees to pay, saving automatically is the best way to help you meet your goals, whatever you're saving for," Mr. Bains explained.

For more information about saving automatically, visit www.letthesavingbegin.com/facebook.

Let the Saving Begin is a Scotiabank program designed to inspire and empower Canadians to get on track with their saving, investing and borrowing habits.

Built on three simple principles, Let the Saving Begin encourages Canadians to:

-   Save automatically, because it works;
    -   Invest for your future, because no one else will; and
    -   Borrow to get ahead, not fall behind.

Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With close to 68,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve approximately 14.6 million customers in some 50 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a diverse range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With more than $526 billion in assets (as at April 30, 2010), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.

The Scotiabank Spring Savings Study was conducted online using Harris/Decima's online panel. A total of 1,006 completed surveys were collected from a random sample of panel members across Canada. The study was conducted from March 26th, 2010 to March 31st, 2010.

This was a standard panel survey among a random sample of Harris/Decima's Canadian panel members. In a fashion similar to a telephone study, email addresses from Harris/Decima's panel were pulled at random, according to population and gender specifications, in order to make the study representative of the Canadian population by region and gender. When contacted to solicit participation, participants had no prior knowledge of the subject matter of the study. Harris/Decima controls access to the study through passwords to ensure that respondents can participate only once. Subsequent to completion of the study, the data was weighted by region, age, and gender.