A new poll has revealed many Canadians are ill-prepared for retirement and living paycheque to paycheque.
In fact, the survey by the Canadian Payroll Association has found 40 per cent of Canadians feel they will have to retire later than originally planned.
And it isn't just those in their 20s and 30s who face a challenge, even those much closer to retirement aren't meeting their goals.
Forty per cent of people aged 55-65 are still less than a quarter of the way to their retirement savings goal, the survey found.
It has left many wondering how they can save for retirement when there's very little left in the bank at the end of the month.
Things are so tight that 57 per cent of people say they'd be in trouble if their paycheque was delayed by just a week.
The concern is that increasingly people are more focused on what is happening now, rather than the future.
Waterloo residents asked about saving a million for retirement told CTV News that paying off debts and covering the daily cost of living gets in the way.
And when it comes to the amount needed to retire, there still seems to be a lot of disagreement.
In an unofficial web poll on CTV Southwestern Ontario, 53 per cent said they thought they could retire with one million dollars, but 17 per cent said no.
Another 20 per cent of people thought they would need more, while only 11 per cent thought they would need less.
Freelance photographer Brian St. Denis is saving, but says "It's hard to strike a balance between having money left over that you want to invest in your business."
Many echo his concerns, but the advice from planners is simple, while you may need to start small, make sure you start rather than putting it off.
For more information or to do your own retirement calculations visit: http://www.fiscalagents.com/toolbox/cal/rrsp/retplanner.shtml
