Posthaste: Canadians putting off saving for retirement, but still plan to stop working at 60

financialpost.com:

Canadians appear to be focusing less on saving for retirement and more on trying to make ends meet, though most still want to retire early.

More than half of Canadian investors say they’re concentrating on getting their bills paid over saving for the future thanks to a higher cost of living, according to a recent survey from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

That’s leading many to look past traditional long-term savings vehicles, such as the registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), to the tax-free savings account (TFSA) instead. Indeed, 53 per cent of investors with both an RRSP and TFSA said they preferred putting their money into the latter so they could access their savings tax-free at any time. RRSPs, in contrast, may be locked-in, meaning withdrawals, which are taxable, can only be made at a future date.

CIBC also said one third of people with RRSPs don’t intend to make any contributions by this year’s Feb. 29 deadline.

The shift to a more conservative financial focus is also showing up in people’s investing strategies, and 42 per cent said they’re looking for predictable returns over outsized growth amid an uncertain economic environment.

“The preference for short-term liquidity and stable returns suggests many Canadians are focused on today and less so on long-term accumulation of wealth or retirement,” Carissa Lucreziana, a vice-president at CIBC, said in a news release.

Inflation, higher interest rates and concerns the economy may tip into a recession have left many Canadians anxious about their finances. Worriers are spending an average of 17.7 more hours fretting about money than they were last year, according to separate research from the Bank of Nova Scotia.

But even amid those financial fears and a