31% of Canadians can’t cover the basics: BDO Canada

Three in 10 (31%) Canadians don’t have enough money to cover their basic needs, a BDO Canada report says, leading them to fill the breach with debt. More than half of those surveyed (52%) have just enough to cover their living costs.

The majority of those surveyed (74%) have debt, most commonly in the form of credit cards and mortgages. Among those with debt, the average non-mortgage debt load is $19,977.

Compared with the average indebted Canadian, heavier debt is most common among women (52%), millennials (49%) and gen Xers (57%), the report says.

Lack of retirement savings

Of those surveyed, 65% said they have little or no retirement savings. Among indebted Canadians, that proportion rises to 70%, and among millennials, it’s 47%.

Among those who haven’t retired yet, 75% of those surveyed said they will need to work longer than their parents did before they can retire.

Other highlights of the study include:

• 43% of women find it challenging to afford transportation costs;
• 33% of millennials and 29% of gen Xers struggle to feed their families; and
• 42% of Canadians with children find it difficult to cover utilities.

Read the report here.

Methodology:

These are some of the findings of an online Ipsos poll of 2,000 adult Canadians conducted between July 3 and July 6, 2018, on behalf of BDO Canada Limited. The poll is accurate to within ±2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.