Battered retirement accounts, diminished home values and lack of personal savings are shattering the retirement confidence of middle-income Baby Boomers, the latest study released by the Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center for a Secure Retirement (SM) (CSR) reveals.
The CSR's Middle-Income Boomers, Financial Security and the New Retirement study, which focused on 500 middle-income Americans between ages 47 and 65 with income between $25,000 and $75,000, found that nearly one-third (21 percent) of Boomers have not seen any rebound in the value of their retirement accounts, 16 percent report owing more on their mortgage than their home is worth, and one-fifth (19 percent) have less than $10,000 in retirement savings.
Since the economic meltdown, America's middle-income Boomers have had to reshape their expectations about retirement and make significant adjustments in their lives in light of the financial realities of the new retirement norms.
And despite the bleak economic outlook, Boomers are demonstrating a commitment to saving for retirement. According to the CSR study, one-fifth (18 percent) say that they are saving more money now than before the economic turbulence of the last few years and more than half (55 percent) are spending less on discretionary items than before the recession.
