This historic milestone forecasts serious challenges for our societies. In particular, the financial security of future pensioners constitutes an important issue.
The financial security of future pensioners constitutes an important issue.
The present study is part of efforts to meet the government’s research needs by contributing to the advancement of knowledge about financial health at retirement, a topic that has been of increasing interest to the academic world in recent years.
The first comparative approach consists of an intergenerational comparison. In the first part of this report, we compare the first cohort of Québec baby-boomers with their parents, in terms of their situation with regard to income, patrimony and pension coverage throughout their life cycle. The results show that, contrary to certain perceptions, the first cohort of baby-boomers are in a better financial situation than their parents at the same age, when it comes to income, accumulated patrimony and pension coverage.
The second approach consists of an interregional comparison in which we compare the financial situation of the first cohort of Québec baby-boomers with that of their Ontarian counterparts. The results show that, contrary to popular belief, with regard to all of the aspects under study, the first Québec baby-boomers are in a slightly better situation in terms of financial planning for retirement than their Ontarian counterparts.
Overall, these two comparative studies shed light on the relative situation of the first Québec baby-boomers when it comes to their financial preparation for retirement. With its new findings, the present study provides food for thought concerning Québec’s social policies and suggests research directions for future studies.
Main researcher
Jacques Légaré, Université de Montréal
Deposit of the research report: April 2007