CPA Canada survey highlights new realities of income, saving, and retirement
While the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a massive toll on Canada’s economy overall, that impact has cascaded unevenly down to individual Canadians, leaving one third concerned about its effect on their finances.
In a recent national survey commission by Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada), one third of Canadians (33%) said they’re feeling heightened stress associated with money management due to the pandemic.
While 7% of respondents said their incomes have risen and 60% reported no impact on their incomes as a result of the crisis, 31% reported a decrease.
When asked how COVID-19 has impacted their spending habits, over half (55%) of respondents said they’re spending less on average. That doesn’t seem to have translated into a rise in saving, however, as 47% of respondents said the amount they’re saving hasn’t changed and 30% said it has decreased due to the pandemic.
Looking at the outbreak’s impact on retirement plans, the survey found nearly three fourths of respondents predict they’ll either retire sooner (6%) or have not changed their timeline (68%). In contrast, around one fifth (21%) said they see themselves retiring later than expected.
The results were similar with respect to plans to save for a post-secondary education: 78% of respondents said they were confident in their ability to do so, compared to 19% who were not confident. With regards to budgeting, 78% said they’re confident that they can stick to a budget, while 18% were not.
Nearly three fourths of Canadians said they were either better off (26%) or in roughly the same financial situation (46%) as they were one year ago, while one fourth (26%) said they were worse off.
And while the majority of respondents (77%) said they were not receiving a COVID-19-related benefit from the government, 17% said they were receiving CERB, 2% were getting the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB), and 4% said they were on another type of benefit.
“Canadians are worried amid the uncertainty and the pandemic is influencing how they are viewing and managing their finances,” said Doretta Thompson, Financial Literacy Leader at CPA Canada. “The need to provide financial educational and literacy tools to Canadians is paramount so that information is available to help individuals and families make informed decisions when it comes to money matters.”
