[ close ]


Bg1

Spread this message with Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, or Stumbleupon, and subscribe to the RSS Feed to track articles

Retirement: One of the Greatest Casualties of Financial Crisis

Published 10/08/08 Dustin Ensinger - Print Article
E-mail - editor@economyincisis.org

The current financial crisis has caused American workers to lose $2 trillion in their retirement plans over the last 15 months, according to Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office.

Pension and other retirement funds - the most common form of savings for most Americans - have been decimated by the meltdown in financial markets, losing 20 percent of their value since mid-2007.

"Unlike Wall Street executives, America's families don't have a golden parachute to fall back on," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman the House Education and Labor Committee, which is investigating how the current crisis is affecting workers retirement benefits. "It's clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis."

According to Orszag, the loss of retirement funds could force Americans to consider working longer.

"Some people will delay their retirement. In particular, those on the verge of retirement may decide they can no longer afford to retire and will continue working," he said.

Others have completely stopped putting money into their 401(k) or IRA accounts, according to a study conducted by the Annual Association of Retired People. Others may panic and decide to withdraw funds from their accounts immediately, further exacerbating the problem.


Source CNNMoney.com:

Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months, Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday.

The upheaval that has engulfed the financial industry and sent the stock market plummeting is devastating workers' savings, forcing people to hold off on major purchases and consider delaying their retirement, said Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office.

Click Here For Solutions To America's Economic Problems

Click here to contact your Representative in Congress.

Unless the above article is already copyrighted, this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License, EIC grants permission to use this article in whole or in part provided attribution is given, preferably in the form of a link back to EconomyInCrisis.org.

MORE OF TODAY'S NEWS | Comment on this Article | Read Comments


Spread this message with Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, or Stumbleupon, and subscribe to the RSS Feed to track articles

Register for newsletter

Bg2

Please Donate to EconomyinCrisis.org today



Please do your part, send a donation of $5, $10, $15 or any amount by PayPal or major credit card.

Bg2

Download our Podcast from iTunes

Itunes

Bg2



Bg2

Follow us on Twitter

Twitter


Download our Podcast from iTunes

Itunes

Bg2

Additional Recommended Articles from the Archives


Bg2

Follow us on Twitter

Twitter

Bg2

Donate Today


Bg2

Comment on this article

Subject

Comment



Bg2

Article Comments From Readers

biguru says "Expense vs. Income" on 12/29/08
Most people may not realize that Healthcare and Defense is an expense while export activities are income. So, keep the income up and then spend to your hearts content while saving for the rainy day. These days our income is on credit...credit from China and credit from Banks...that is why we are in this mess!

guest says "Arrogance of ignorance" on 12/29/08
Since most Americans seem to have more interest in sports and American Idol, they are ignorant of the world around them. They allow themselves to be feed propaganda by the corp military industrial complex. Example, they may/maynot be aware that we spend (borrow) more than the rest of the world combined on our military, but they are oblivious to the economic harm that it has done. Until Americans wake up we will continue to go down hill.