Retirement, debt, and cash flow..Canadians not ready

A survey released this week shows a shade over half of Canadian home-owners (51%) feel they will be able to be debt-free by retirement, meaning that half of homeowners are concerned they won’t be debt-free by retirement.

In a sign that a growing number of Canadians are concerned about rising household indebtedness, only 43 per cent of homeowners say they are happy with how they’ve managed their debt and day-to-day finances over the past year. That’s down slightly from two years ago, when 46 per cent expressed satisfaction. Younger homeowners appear to be worst off, with fewer than four in 10 aged 30-39 indicating satisfaction with their debt management over the past year, compared to nearly five in 10 for those aged 50-59.

Almost a third of respondants also said they were very unhappy with how they were managing their money and debts, and yet more than three quarters of homeowners rate debt-freedom as being among their top financial priorities.

Several strategies were mentioned by respondants as to how to manage debt, such as paying off credit cards in full every month, However, of the various strategies mentioned, about a quarter said they don’t actual follow the strategy but plan to do so in future.

Among the debt management strategies less frequently used – just one in three have consolidated their debt at a single low rate and fewer than one in four get debt management advice from a financial advisor.  Interestingly, those who do get debt management advice from a financial advisor are more likely to take advantage of these strategies

The survey was done by Manulife Bank of Canada .  The Manulife Bank of Canada poll surveyed 2,132 Canadian homeowners in all provinces between ages 30 to 59 with household income of more than $50,000. The survey was conducted online by Research House between September 10-20, 2013. National results were weighted by province and gender.