TORONTO, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Only one in three Canadians expects to be fully retired by age 66, a Sun Life Financial survey published Wednesday in Toronto showed.
The Ipsos Reid polling firm conducted online interviews with 3,701 working Canadians aged 30-65 in late November and early December and found 48 percent are planning to phase in their retirement by working part-time or freelance.
"These results are not surprising given the current economic volatility, increasing consumer debt loads, rising healthcare costs, longer life expectancy and lack of planning," Sun Life Financial President Ken Dougherty said in a release. "We're also finding that some Canadians believe they'll have to work longer to be able to pay for basic living expenses."
Debt also weighed heavily in the survey, with 47 percent of respondents saying they are worried about debt in retirement. Accordingly, 44 percent said paying down debt is their number one financial priority, far ahead of the 20 percent who said saving for retirement was their top priority.
The poll had a 1.6 percent margin of error, the release said.
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