Published on Financial Post | Personal Finance
By Audrey Pridham, November 4th, 2024
48% of Canadians have had to access their savings accounts to cover day-to-day expenses
Nearly half of Canadians say they’re in worse financial shape than they were at the beginning of this year and more than a third say they need an extra $1,000 in monthly income to cover their day-to-day expenses, according to a study by online will service Willful. Inflation pressures have 86 per cent concerned about its impact on their financial goals, and 39 per cent are also “pressing pause” on saving up for future goals. 48 per cent of Canadians have had to access their savings accounts to cover day-to-day expenses during the past year, according to Willful’s most recent survey on the impact of rising costs and interest rates.
Many people are also delaying financial tasks such as paying off debt or getting a will.
Canadians are currently in the middle of the largest generational wealth transfer in history, and many still need to be better educated about setting up wills and life insurance, especially since the cost, convenience and accessibility of estate planning can often be intimidating and overwhelming. We as a society do not talk about money, death, or end-of-life planning at the dinner table, and we’ve seen the new financial literacy education in Ontario start to tackle that. But after working with thousands of customers over the last seven years, Canadians do pretty much anything they can to avoid thinking about their own mortality.
Erin Bury, Chief Executive, Willful
