Retirees don’t know what to do with spare time

When Canadians retire, they will have an average of 2,000 additional hours per year to fill – the time they now spend working. Most people have no idea what they’ll do with that time, finds an RBC survey.

The bank surveyed 1,500 working Canadians 50 and older, and 73% are unsure what they’ll do with that extra time.

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While the survey found 64% have done some planning for how they will finance retirement, less than half have done some planning for retirement lifestyle decisions, such as where they will live, where they will travel and what activities they will do.

Bill Hill, national financial planning consultant and retirement designer at RBC, encourages Canadians to plan for their retirement by first thinking about the kind of life they want to live in retirement, before discussing their finances.

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He suggests asking clients:

• What do I want to do when I retire?
• What are your hopes for retirement?
• Have you thought about what will be truly important to you when you retire?

If you’re advising a couple, the second question to ask is if they’ve discussed their expectations with each other. They may simply have assumed their partner agrees, without actually having asked.

The RBC survey shows 61% of Canadians polled plan to stay in their current home when they retire, with 28% planning to renovate. A third plan to downsize to a smaller home.

Read: Seniors can’t afford to live at home during retirement