Given that inflation is like everyone in the country taking a big pay cut, it’s perhaps not surprising that recent surveys of Canadian sentiments on personal financial health have found outlooks a little gloomier than they were just a couple of years ago.
Sixty per cent of Canadians believe Canada is in a recession, and 68 per cent believe Canada is headed there in 2024, according to the annual IG Wealth Management Financial Confidence Index.
Meanwhile, a TD survey finds that 42 per cent of British Columbians are not confident they will have enough money to retire by the time they had originally planned to. And close to half of all British Columbians surveyed by TD -- 49 per cent -- have not made contributions to retirement funds this year.
Asked why, 48 per cent said their cost of living had increased or they were only making enough to cover monthly expenses. Another 24 per cent said it was because they preferred to save rather than invest.
“While Canadians are feeling relatively stable with their current personal financial situation, there are significant concerns about where things could be headed in the year ahead and in our ability to successfully navigate this uncertainty,” IG Wealth Management CEO Damon Murchison said in a press release.
“This can, in part, be attributed to the apprehension felt over the last year about the cost of living, rising interest rates and intensifying global tensions.”
The annual IG Wealth confidence index notes that Canadians’ confidence ticked up in 2021, as the world began to recover from a pandemic.
The confidence index in 2021 was 57. It dipped to 51 in 2022 and fell to 50 this year.
“Although the index only fell by one point, this demonstrates that Canadians’ faith in the health of the economy was not restored in 2023 and that anxiety about the future persists,” the index notes.
The survey found 65 per cent of Canadians blaming government for not doing enough to address Canada’s fiscal challenges.
Close to half of all Canadians surveyed -- 49 per cent -- are concerned that inflation will continue to rise in 2024 and nearly 20 per cent ranked their ability to maintain their current standard of living as one of their biggest concerns in the year ahead.
Canadians are particularly concerned about housing affordability, soaring food costs and their ability to save for the future. More than half -- 56 per cent -- said they are saving less for retirement, because of inflation.
That coincides with a TD Bank survey that found Canadians concerned about not being able to retire when they had initially planned.
That survey found 71 per cent of Canadians citing a high cost of living and inflation making it harder to achive their financial goals.
