A report released today indicates that the decline in the stock market in the last six months of 2008 worsened the retirement outlook for middle-class Americans. The analysis, conducted by Ernst & Young on behalf of the Americans for Secure Retirement coalition (ASR), shows that the retirement assets of recent and near retirees decreased between 14 and 17 percent in the last six months of 2008 alone.
The study further finds that households with a guaranteed source of retirement income outside of Social Security, such as a lifetime annuity, have the greatest chance of having enough money in retirement.
The new report is an update to Ernst & Young's 2008 Retirement Vulnerability of New Retirees report which found that almost three fifths of middle-class new retirees could expect to outlive their financial assets if attempting to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living.
