Dr. Maria Hugi has been doing shift work as an emergency room doctor in Vancouver for the better part of three decades.

She enjoys her work, but at 56 she's feeling the toll of long hours.

"It's really for young people," she said about the ER. "You're mentally and physically taxed."

Hugi thought she would retire in a couple of years, enjoy a slower life, read books she's always been too busy to get to, or maybe even head north to work as a doctor in a rural community. But then the economic crisis hit -- and all of her plans disappeared, along with much of her investment portfolio.

Hugi said her retirement savings portfolio has lost about 40 per cent of its value over the past year. She and her husband, who is also an ER doctor, have also taken huge losses on a home they own in neighbouring Washington State.

"Now it looks it's not freedom at 55, it's going to be freedom at 85," she said, only half laughing at a situation that has upended her retirement hopes.

"No way. I'm not making plans for retirement. My husband is 63 and he's not talking about retirement either. I'll work as long as I have to," she said.

The couple is among thousands of Canadians who are being forced to delay their retirement because of an economic crisis that has sent stock markets around the world tumbling.

An RBC poll released earlier this month found that 28 per cent of Canadian baby boomers are planning on delaying their retirement due to the economic downturn. Forty-three per cent of baby boomers polled said they will hold off retirement by one or two years, while 37 per cent said they will wait three to five years, according to an RBC media release. Another nine per cent said they don't know when they'll get a chance to retire.

Hugi said she's not surprised to find that increasing numbers of Canadians are planning to delay their retirements. She said she even knows of several doctors who have come out of retirement to work so they can make ends meet.

Hugi said she realizes she and her husband are better off than many other Canadians. But like others, she said it's difficult to watch her investments crumble.

"It's hard to lose money ... and reduce your lifestyle," she said.

Retirement strategies

Lee Anne Davies, the head of Advanced Retirement Strategies at RBC told CTV.ca their clients have become increasingly concerned about their retirement nest eggs -- and if they'll be able to maintain their lifestyles after they quit working.

"The closer that you are to your retirement date, the more likely you are to wonder if you have a large-enough nest egg," she told CTV.ca.

She said some Canadians are planning to stay in the full-time workforce for a few more years, but others are cutting back their hours or taking on less-stressful jobs. She said there are a variety of strategies Canadians thinking of retirement can employ to fit their goals and timing.

"You don't necessarily have to go into full retirement," she said, adding, "you can scale down the type of work you're doing."

Davies also noted that historically markets have bounced back - and investment portfolios in the years ahead, even for those in retirement, will not necessarily reflect today's market conditions.

"You could (also) adjust your thinking on the type of lifestyle you want, but that's not what a lot of people want to do," she said.

"But that would be part of the conversation (with financial advisers) ... do you still need to have a large home? Or could you work part time and pick up some health and dental benefits."

Like many Canadians, Hugi said all of the news reports have left her confused about when the economy may turn around.

"I don't know if the pundits are right, but a lot of them are saying it's going to be a long recession ... I don't know," she said, adding she's not confident she'll see her investment money bounce back to allow her to retire any time soon.

"It's money on paper in essence. But it's money we were counting on, money we were looking forward to," she said.