Despite greater pressure on their money, 18-34-year-olds are managing to fund their future
Few of us considered old age when we were in our twenties and early thirties, but young Canadians are maintaining savings for their retirement despite current tight budgets.
Half of working 18-34-year-olds have set aside money for retirement in the past year, beating the 45% who have not according to a recent survey from HOOPP. This puts this young cohort roughly in line with the overall average, and slightly ahead of 35-54-year-olds.
Perhaps this is because young Canadians are already concerned that their idea of when they will stop working is already being impacted by current inflation pressures. While 60% of all respondents believe they may have to delay retirement, among the youngest adult group the figure jumps to 74%. That puts them second behind 35-54s (80%) but well ahead of the pre-retiree 55-64-years group (54%).
The retirement fears of young adults may be driven by a wider concern about the state of their finances.
The survey found that half of the 18-34 group say they are living beyond their means (compared to just 31% of over 35s) and are almost twice as likely to be splurging on small luxuries because they can’t afford big ticket items (54% vs. 28% of over 35s said this).
The 18-34s say they are most concerned about the cost of daily life (69%), keeping up with inflation (67%), and housing affordability (65%).
Debt concerns
Canada’s youngest adult group are also worried about:
- the level of debt they hold (48%)
- reducing their debt (83%)
- ever having a workplace pension (45%)
- interest rates impacting their savings ability (91%)
- saving for retirement (86%)
Being able to buy their own home remains a top concern of young Canadians and just 43% of HOOPP survey respondents said they were homeowners with 58% expressing concern about paying off their mortgage to retire when they had planned to.
