Fewer Canadians living paycheque to paycheque: survey
Canadians' finances have actually improved in the past year, with fewer people living paycheque to paycheque and more even managing to put some money aside, according to a recent poll by the Canadian Payroll Association.
The survey suggests that 47% of Canadians would be in financial difficulty if their pay was delayed by even a week. And, while that's a grim statistic, it's actually the goods news. Last year, 57% reported that they were just making ends meet.
Either way, that's an alarming number of people who could be one car repair or dental bill away from financial disaster.
What's really surprising though is that 66% said they've been able to save more, up from 40% last year.
Quebecers appear to be having the most success with their finances, with only 33% living paycheque to paycheque, and 71% having successfully increased their savings this year. Residents of Ontario are struggling the most, with 52% living week to week.
While some people may be saving more, their rate of savings remains low, however.
Almost half of those surveyed said they're putting aside 5% or less of their paycheques. Which may explain why 73% said they've saved less than a quarter of their targets, all of which seem quite ambitious.
34% of Canadians feel that savings of $500,000 to $1 million will be sufficient to live comfortably in retirement, down from 42% last year. A larger proportion, 38%, believe a nest-egg of between $1 million and $3 million will be needed, up from 27% last year.
Are you living paycheque to paycheque? Have things improved or deteriorated over the past year?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: North'n Loans | Sep 26, 2021 8:00:22 AM
We should be teaching our children in school about the "real" life. The one after school is done. Maybe there would be a smaller learning curve without the financial disaster at 25. With maybe some understanding of how to plan for the future, which is a weird concept when you're young and having fun.