Income plays small part in Canadians’ financial anxiety: survey

Roughly two-thirds of Canadians over the age of 30 are at least somewhat worried about outliving their savings, regardless of their income levels, research from the Angus Reid Institute says.

A survey of more than 3,000 Canadians found younger people, particularly younger women, are most concerned about their finances as they age. More than three-quarters (77%) of women between the ages of 30 and 55 say they worry about outliving their savings. This concern was less acute but still present among older Canadians, with 51% of those over the age of 70 worried about outliving savings, the survey found.

Across all age groups, 66% said they’re at least somewhat worried about running out of money. The survey found that income was not a significant factor in accounting for this fear, though those earning less than $50,000 were a bit more likely to be concerned.

“Age and gender, overall, appear to be much stronger drivers of long-term financial anxiety,” the survey found.

The research also covered more general feelings about aging. Less than one-quarter (23%) of Canadians over the age of 70 said they feared getting older more than they welcomed it, compared to 28% of the more general population.

Those over 70 also expressed less fear of being alone or lonely in their later years than younger Canadians did.

The vast majority of those surveyed don’t feel noticeably older than they are, with more than half (53%) saying they feel younger than their current age. This was even higher (60%) for those 70 and older.

“Positive perceptions of aging, interestingly enough, appear positively correlated with age itself,” the survey found. “That is, older Canadians are more likely to feel younger than their age, whereas younger Canadians are more likely to say they feel older than their age.”

The Angus Reid Institute conducted the self-commissioned online survey in April. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population. The 3,049 Canadians over 30 who were surveyed are members of the Angus Reid Forum, the polling firm said, and were taken from a representative randomized sample.

As part of the same survey, the firm reported on Canadians’ caregiving roles earlier this week.

Staff

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