Canadians nearing retirement worry about their standard of living, depleting their savings and being unable to pay for health care — but few are doing much about it, a survey for the Canadian Institute of Actuaries suggests.

The survey was done to gauge the attitudes and actions of individuals approaching retirement age, or who have recently retired. Actuaries are specialists in risk management and work with pension plans, insurance companies, government regulators and individuals.

The survey found that 74 per cent of those over 45 but not retired were concerned about maintaining a reasonable standard of living for the rest of their lives. Sixty-two per cent worry about having enough money for health care or depleting all their savings.

One in five said they would never fully retire, while only eight per cent said they are very prepared for retirement.

A pivotal finding of the survey was that half those asked haven't sought financial advice from a bank, professional adviser, a relative or a book.

"It is interesting and alarming that despite the best intentions and a clear understanding of the risks of not being adequately prepared, too many pre-retired Canadians have yet to take action to protect themselves financially for the future," said institute president Robert Howard.

The survey was released Monday as Canada's finance ministers discussed pension reform at a meeting in Prince Edward Island.

The poll was conducted Feb. 4 to 10 for the actuaries by Ipsos Reid. It involved 1,064 Canadian adults over 45 who are not retired and 1,073 who consider themselves retired.

The error margin for each of the two sections of the poll is plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.