Canadians across three generations want to retire before 65, but will they be financially prepared to achieve that goal?

According to a new report from Toronto-Dominion Bank, 61 is the average age of expected retirement for Canadians, and the average is lower for those in Generation X (ages 31-46) who plan to retire at age 60, and those in Generation Y (ages 25-30) who plan to retire at age 59. However, nearly six in 10 (59%) of Canadians say they have less than $100,000 in household financial assets.

While retiring at 61 may be the expectation, people may not be taking into account the amount of savings and investments they’ll need to last through their retirement years. In fact, more than half (53%) of Boomers (ages 47-64) and 62% of those in Generation X say they have less than $100,000 in household financial assets, not including company pensions, life insurance policies and home equity. Sixteen per cent of Canadians say they have no financial assets whatsoever.

Another major consideration for Canadians when it comes to retirement is debt — something that almost half (44%) expect to have when they retire, including one in ten (13%) who believe they will retire with a significant amount of debt. Most of the debt Canadians expect to carry into retirement is consumer debt (57%) followed by mortgage debt (48%).

What does retirement mean for Canadians?

Not surprisingly, most Canadians anticipate retirement will either be a time to relax and really enjoy life, or to try something new, with only 15% saying they plan to work for the rest of their healthy lives. For almost half (47%) of Canadians, retirement is a time where they can gradually slow down and enjoy life by spending more time with friends and family, while 38% say retirement is a time to explore passions and experience new things they weren’t able to while working.

Results for the TD Age of Retirement Report were collected through a custom, online survey fielded by Environics Research Group. A total of 1,006 completed surveys were collected with Canadians ages 25-64 who are not retired. Data was collected between Nov. 22 and Dec. 2, 2011.