Canadians believe they will be taking their retirement a little later than
planned

MONTREAL, Nov. 9 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, during the Insurance and Investments Convention, AXA announced the results of the fifth edition of its Retirement Scope study.

The 2010 edition of the Retirement Scope study offers both local and international perspectives and sheds light on different aspects of retirement, with a broader reflection about Canadians' state of preparedness for this stage of life and underlining the importance of discussing it in advance.

The results of this extensive study reveal, among other things, that Canadians tend to think that they will take their retirement a little later than planned. It also seems that a majority of Canadians (57%) are unable to estimate their retirement income. The Retirement Scope also shows that people aged 35 to 49 do not seem to be further ahead than their younger counterparts when it comes to retirement planning.

"As insurance and investment professionals, retirement is something we have a great deal of responsibility towards. That's why AXA has been tracking the phenomenon closely," says Robert Landry, Executive Vice President, Life and Health Insurance for AXA Insurance. "Understanding the perceptions, knowing how prepared people are and what their financial needs are for this important part of life—which is growing longer and longer—allows us to better advise our customers and take part in their financial security."

Early retirement? Think delayed retirement
The Retirement Scope points to a trend among an increasing number of Canadians who believe that they will be forced to take their retirement a little later than previously hoped. This is probably the effect of the recent economic crisis.

In fact, among the working population, the five-year gap between the ''ideal age'' and the ''planned age'' for retirement, i.e. 57 versus 62, has increased since the previous edition of the survey. "This gap is not surprising in a country where a major part of retirement income comes from personal savings," says Mr. Landry. Workers have seen their retirement savings seriously shrink in value, and many of them are forced to consider working longer than planned and longer than their elders did."

But no matter what their current stage of life—young, midlife or end of career—those surveyed believe that they will still be able to stop working on average three years before the legal retirement age of 65.

It is also interesting to note that 10% of those surveyed have no idea at what age they will retire. This is a sign that these respondents have not yet started to plan their retirement.

Grey area about retirement income
In spite of a great deal of awareness about the need to plan for retirement, more than half of working Canadians (57%) admit that they cannot estimate, even approximately, the retirement income they will likely need.

While since 2006 there is a trend toward being able to estimate this amount better, some survey results still raise concern:

• The lower their income, the less people in the workforce know what their retirement income will be.
• Among respondents aged 35 to 49, the majority (60%) still don't know what their retirement income will be.
• A large proportion of those over 50 (42%) still don't know how to estimate their retirement income.

"These facts are worrisome because, without exception, we're talking about groups of Canadians who are closer to retirement or who would benefit from planning their retirement more actively," says Mr. Landry.

Retirement: a matter of planning
The results of the Retirement Scope show that people aged 35 to 49 do not appear to be much further along in their retirement planning than younger generations, even though, paradoxically, they have fewer years left to do so. Some of them (10%) even go so far as to say that they will never plan for it.

However, it seems that on average, today's workers are learning from the experience of retirees and starting to plan their retirement earlier. Current retirees say they started planning their retirement on average at age 37, but say that they should have done so three years earlier.

Finally, it was noted that in this study, Canada stands out from other countries with the marked tendency—29% among the working population and 26% among retirees—to believe that increasing personal savings is one of the best ways to ensure a retirement income. This is an indicator that Canadians take their retirement in hand and count more on themselves for retirement income.

About AXA
Present across Canada, AXA offers a complete line of property/casualty and life and health insurance products to its clients through its 2,300 employees and some 4,000 brokers and advisors. In 2009, AXA had revenues of C$2.05 billion and a net profit of C$137.6 million. AXA in Canada is a member of the AXA Group, a world leader in financial protection operating mainly in Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific region. Around the world, 96 million clients place their trust in AXA.

About the AXA Retirement Scope
The AXA Retirement Scope is an international study whose objectives are to explore and understand people's attitudes toward retirement and to compare the image of retirement with the reality.
The survey included over 20,000 working and retired people from 26 countries and was conducted in April 2010 by a consortium of polling firms headed by GFK Group and represented in Canada by CROP.

Countries studied: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States.

For further information: