• Many wish they had started investing and saving for retirement earlier

TORONTO, Feb. 17 /CNW/ - With less than two weeks to go to the 2010 RRSP deadline, investments and RRSPs are top-of-mind for many Canadians. As they make their contributions and begin filing their taxes, now is the perfect time for Canadians to take stock of their finances.

A recent Scotiabank study conducted by Harris/Decima found that, if Canadians could begin their investment planning all over again, two-in-five (39 per cent) would begin investing at a much earlier age and 21 per cent would have spent less and invested more. Forty-one per cent of Canadians feel they began putting money aside for retirement much too late and wish they had started earlier.

"Hindsight is 20/20 and until travelling back in time is an option, there is little we can change about the things we could or should have done - the money we could have saved or shouldn't have spent," said Bev Moir, ScotiaMcLeod Senior Wealth Advisor. "What Canadians can do is learn from their past mistakes, take stock of their present financial situation and take steps today to get them on the right track to achieve their ideal future."

So, where does all their money currently go?

• Canadians indicated their regular income is divided between the following:
• Monthly expenses (53 per cent);
• Day-to-day expenses (19 per cent);
• Savings (11 per cent);
• Investments (eight per cent); and
• Other costs (nine per cent).

• Canadian households have savings or investments held within the following registered savings plans:
• RRSP (79 per cent);
• TFSA (52 per cent);
• RESP (21 per cent);
• RDSP (two per cent); and
• Other registered saving or investing (e.g. RRIF) (17 per cent).
• Sixty-one per cent have money saved and/or invested in non-registered accounts.
• Only 13 per cent of Canadians indicated that they do not have any of these registered savings plans.

• As for where they save and invest their money, the top products that Canadians currently hold are:
• A regular savings account (67 per cent);
• Mutual funds (58 per cent);
• A high interest savings account (48 per cent);
• Stocks/equities (47 per cent); and
• GICs (33 per cent).

"According to Canadians, they are saving and investing a fair portion of their income, with half of Canadians doing this automatically," said Ms. Moir. "It is great to see that many Canadians are taking the right steps to help them reach their retirement goals, but it is always a good idea to speak with a financial advisor to ensure you are on the right track to achieving your ideal future."

At the beginning of February, Scotiabank hosted a live event on Facebook where Canadians were invited to ask a panel of experts their retirement and investing questions. Canadians had a lot of questions and not all could be addressed during the panel discussion, so Scotiabank will be continuing the conversation on Facebook. Scotiabank encourages Canadians to visit the Let the Saving Begin Facebook page at www.facebook.com/scotiabank and ask Ms. Moir any questions they may have about their retirement planning. Each weekday from now until February 23^rd, Ms. Moir will select a question and answer in a video response.

To find out more about how you can invest for your future, visit www.letthesavingbegin.com or to hear what other Canadians have to say about investing, visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/scotiabank.

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 1,011 completed surveys were collected from a random sample of Harris/Decima's panel members across Canada. 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.