Income in retirement: Expectations versus reality

Release date: December 13, 2022
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Infographic: Income in retirement: Expectations versus reality
Description: Income in retirement: Expectations versus reality

In 2014, a group of non-retired Canadians aged 55 or older was asked about their financial expectations for retirement. New data from 2020 reveal how this same group of Canadians—now retired—is doing financially

On average, recent Canadian retirees are doing better income-wise than they expected in 2014.

Table 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 1. The information is grouped by Retirement income expected to be adequate or more than adequate, 2014 (appearing as row headers), Have had a disability, No disability , High school or less and Postsecondary graduate, calculated using Percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Retirement income expected to be adequate or more than adequate, 2014 Have had a disabilityNote 1 No disabilityNote 2 High school or less Postsecondary graduate
Percentage
Yes 55.3 79.3 50.3 76.9
No 44.7 20.7 49.7 23.1
Table 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 2. The information is grouped by Retirement income sufficient to comfortably cover living expenses, 2020 (appearing as row headers), Have had a disability, No disability , High school or less and Postsecondary graduate, calculated using Percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Retirement income sufficient to comfortably cover living expenses, 2020 Have had a disabilityNote 1 No disabilityNote 2 High school or less Postsecondary graduate
Percentage
Yes 72.4 90.6 73.5 86.0
No 27.6 9.4Note † 26.5 14.0

By 2020, about 1 in 3 recently retired Canadians who belong to a racialized group and less than half of those who have ever had a disabilityNote 1 or had no postsecondary education were receiving income from an employer pension plan or their personal retirement savings.

Table 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 3. The information is grouped by Expected primary source of income in retirement, 2014 (appearing as row headers), Racialized group, Non-racialized group, Have had a disability, No disability, High school or less and Postsecondary graduate, calculated using Percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Expected primary source of income in retirement, 2014 Racialized group Non-racialized group Have had a disabilityNote 1 No disabilityNote 2 High school or less Postsecondary graduate
Percentage
Government programNote 3 50.1Note † 28.0 41.3 18.4 48.4 19.5
Workplace pension/personal retirement savings 31.1Note † 52.1 39.9 60.4 30.3 61.3
Other 18.8Note † 19.9 18.7 21.1 21.2 19.2
Table 4
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 4. The information is grouped by Income from employer pension plan or retirement savings plan, 2020 (appearing as row headers), Racialized group, Non-racialized group, Have had a disability, No disability, High school or less and Postsecondary graduate, calculated using Percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Income from employer pension plan or retirement savings plan, 2020Note 4 Racialized group Non-racialized group Have had a disabilityNote 1 No disabilityNote 2 High school or less Postsecondary graduate
Percentage
Yes 32.8Note † 53.8 44.2 54.7 41.2 58.0
No 67.2 46.2 55.8 45.3 58.8 42.0

Source: Statistics Canada, Longitudinal and International Study of Adults

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Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2022

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Catalogue no. 11-627-M

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