TORONTO – Nearly three-in-ten respondents to a new poll on retirement expectations say they did not have a choice as to when they retired.
The survey suggests that 85 per cent of pre-retired baby boomers with financial assets of $100,000 or more believe they have a choice when they retire.
But only 62 per cent of retired boomers say they actually did have a choice.
The poll found that 20 per cent of respondents said they knew they were going to retire one month or less before their actual retirement date.
And 42 per cent had less than six months notice before they retired.
The poll also found that being healthy was cited as the main reason for the timing of retirement, ahead of having enough money, or being unhappy at work.
The poll was conducted by Ipsos Reid from Feb. 24 to Mar. 12 among a sample of 2,833 adults aged 50 and over with household assets of at least $100,000 from Ipsos’ Canadian online panel.
A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100 per cent response rate would have an estimated margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points 19 times out of 20.
