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Canadians leaving retirement plans unchanged

Canadians are sticking to when they want to retire despite fears about whether they have enough saved, according to a pair of surveys released Thursday.

Canadians are sticking to when they want to retire despite fears about whether they have enough saved, according to a pair of surveys released Thursday.

A Scotiabank survey found that 73% of Canadian investors have not changed the age they plan to retire, despite the volatile markets and economic roller-coaster during the past two years.

The average investor plans to retire at age 61, with 49% planning to retire before the age of 65.

Still, 22% are planning to delay retirement, with a greater proportion of people 45 to 64 years of age deciding to push back their retirement date.

A TD Canada Trust survey suggested, however that nine out of 10 Canadians have fears about their retirement plans, with 52% of working Canadians under 65 saying they are scared they have not saved enough money for a comfortable retirement.

Some of that fear may be due to a lack of adequate planning, with a full 20% still saying they are relying on their Canadian pension plan benefits, an inheritance or a lottery win to secure retirement.

About 41% of Canadians between the age of 18 and 34 do not make RRSP contributions.

Of the remainder that do contribute to a retirement savings plan, 52% contribute through a fixed money deposit, 29% make an annual lump sum payment and 18% do a combination of both.