In the last six months of 2008, the financial future of retirees and pre-retirees took a huge blow, according to a recent report released by Ernst & Young.
The stock market decline combined with the economic crisis has had a disastrous effect on the retirement savings of middle class Americans, the report said, and this has reduced the likelihood that middle income retirees will have sufficient finances to last them through their lifetime.
The report is an update to Ernst & Young's July 2008 Retirement Vulnerability Study, which 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.
"When you look at the effect of the market downturn on retirement vulnerability, there have been some fairly significant changes, and sometimes, a 40% chance of people not having sufficient financial assets in retirement," says Ernst & Young's Tom Neubig, author of the report.
