Home is where the retirement money is

Nearly a quarter of Canadians plan to use their homes as their primary source of income after they leave the workforce, shows a Sun Life survey.

Read: CPP funds tops $200B for first time

A further 17% don’t know if their home equity will serve as their primary source of income during retirement.

At the same time, 28% of Canadians expect to be retired at 66. Twice that many (56%) are expecting to work past the traditional retirement age. The reason 65% of those people say they will work into retirement years is because they’ll need to support themselves.

Read: Four in 10 Canadians aren’t retiring on time

The average expected retirement age is 66, but among Canadians closest to retirement, those aged 55-65, the average expected retirement age is 67. That’s the lowest it’s been in four years. In 2011, it hit a high of 69 years of age.

Canadians on average expect approximately 10% of their retirement income to come from home equity. They also expect:

• 30% to come from government plans;
• 27% to come from personal savings;
• 23% to come from employer plans;
• 5% to come from inheritance; and
• 6% to come from other sources.

Read: Budget helps retirees

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.