A new report from retirement coalition Americans for Secure Retirement finds the events in just the last six months of 2008 have dramatically worsened the retirement outlook for the middle class, specifically.
The analysis, conducted by Ernst & Young, found the retirement assets of recent- and near-retirees decreased between 14 percent and 17 percent.
The report is an update to Ernst & Young’s July 2008 Retirement Vulnerability Study. The 2008 study found that almost three out of five middle-class new retirees could expect to outlive their financial assets if they attempted to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living.
“In only 6 months, the financial downturn has had a significant adverse impact on the retirement assets of middle-income Americans and on their prospects of a secure retirement. As was the case in our 2008 study, our update finds that people with a guaranteed source of income outside of Social Security are much better positioned than those that are without guaranteed income,” said Tom Neubig of Ernst and Young in a released statement.