• One-third of Quebec residents plan to work after they retire out of financial necessity
• Seven-in-10 Quebecers believe they will need to save less than one million dollars for retirement

TORONTO, Jan. 4 /CNW/ - Of those Quebec residents who plan to retire, 64 per cent plan to work during retirement, primarily to remain mentally (67 per cent) and socially (51 per cent) active, according to a recent Scotiabank study conducted by Harris/Decima assessing Canadians' attitudes toward retirement and investing. However, one-third (33 per cent) of Quebecers expect to work after they officially retire out of financial necessity.

"While it's great to see that so many Quebec residents are planning to work in retirement to stay mentally and socially active, there are still many who feel they will need to work out of financial necessity," said Sophie Labonne, Investment Sales Coach, Montreal, Scotiabank. "At Scotiabank we understand that many Canadians can find planning for retirement overwhelming and we want to help them by making investing for their future easier so they are better able to achieve their retirement dreams."

The study found that the majority of Quebec residents (70 per cent) think that they will need less than one million dollars to fund their retirement, with almost half (43 per cent) believing they will need less than $300,000. Twenty-two per cent of Canadians from Quebec think they will need between one and two million dollars and only nine per cent believe they will need two million dollars or more to fund their ideal retirement, significantly less than the rest of Canada at 18 per cent.

"When it comes to retirement, there is no one-size-fits-all solution," commented Ms. Labonne. "For some $500,000 might be enough and for others it could be $2,000,000. Thinking about retirement can be discouraging if you focus on this big amount. Instead, we recommend that Canadians focus on how they plan to spend their retirement years and then determine how much this will actually cost. It is equally important for them to determine how much they can afford to put away for retirement and then understand how much this will give them down the road."

Quebecers are less likely than other Canadians to plan to travel in retirement (78 per cent vs. 88 per cent). The majority of Quebec residents also plan to spend their retirement with family and friends (70 per cent), reading (59 per cent) and exercising (58 per cent).

As for saving for retirement, 69 per cent of Quebecers are currently putting money away for their future, significantly less than the rest of Canadians at 80 per cent. Quebec residents are more likely than the rest of Canadians to have saved less than $20,000 over the past five years for their retirement (64 per cent vs. 59 per cent).

"We all know that it's important to invest for our future, but with so many demands on our time and money it can be easy to put off saving for a goal that often seems far away," commented Ms. Labonne. "At Scotiabank, we work with our customers to help make their long-term goals more tangible so they can take action and let the saving begin."

While more Quebecers believe that the money for their retirement will come from RRSP contributions and savings (70 per cent and 63 per cent respectively), many indicated their retirement would also be funded by money from the government (60 per cent), their work pension (54 per cent) or inheritance (23 per cent). A small number of Quebecers expect to have retirement money come from the lottery (six per cent) or their children (three per cent).

For more information about investing for your future, visit www.letthesavingbegin.com.

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.

About the survey

A total of 249 completed surveys were collected from a random sample of Harris/Decima's panel members from Quebec, of which 192 expect to retire. The study was conducted from October 14th, 2010 to October 25th, 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 their 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.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With more than 70,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve some 18.6 million customers in more than 50 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With assets above $526 billion (as at October 31, 2010), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.