Boomers worried about cost of parent care

Canadian baby boomers are concerned about caring for their parents and financially assisting their adult children, according to a Scotiabank study.

Read: Boomers worry about outliving savings

The report also shows government pensions will be the top source of retirement income for the boomer generation, followed by RRSPs and savings accounts.

Other key findings:

• 25% of boomers are concerned about their parents’ health and how it will impact them in retirement;

• 64% of boomers say they have one or both parents alive, meanwhile 15% say preparing for the health care costs of aging parents is extremely or very important;

• Almost one-half (45%) of the 41% of boomers with children currently under the age of 21 living at home expect their adult children to continue to live at home past the age of 21. The study also found that 16% of boomers say they plan to help their children financially.

Read: Majority worried about retirement savings

• Only 40% of younger boomers (45-54 year olds) feel prepared for their retirement compared to 62% of older boomers (65-70 year olds). Younger boomers (49%) are also more concerned about outliving their money in retirement than older boomers (33%).

• Not surprisingly, younger boomers are considering how their aging parents will affect their retirement. Twenty-eight percent are concerned about how their parents health will impact them (vs. 12% of older boomers), and 45% say that preparing for their aging parents’ health care costs is an important financial objective in retirement (vs. 17% of older boomers).

• Boomers agree that, on average, 65% of their pre-retirement income is needed to live in retirement.

• Boomers’ retirement income will come from a variety of sources with pensions (84%), particularly government pensions (72%) and RRSPs/RRIFs (77%), as the primary sources of income, followed by savings accounts (52%).

Read: Younger homeowners more comfortable with debt than parents