Down pluges over 700 pts - now under 10,000 - yikes- Page 3

[Mamie]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 9:10am

I'm hearing you humbug. I'm also retired and no longer able to live on my retirement annuity. I don't own a home and unless I hit the lottery, I never will. I'm working full time to make enough, when added to my annuity, to pay the bills (including lots of medical bills) and just keep going. My terror lies in the possibility of having to move (I can't afford an actual move and I don't know where I could go that I could afford) and the BIG scare - how long will my job hold out? We're a small business that (FORTUNATELY!) got some government contracts this year that keeps us operating. But how long will that last? Even if the business holds out, how long will my health allow me to continue working full time? Finding another employer, in this current climate, will NOT be easy.

Like you, there's not much I can do about it except to hope for the best. It's a very scary world out there.

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 12:24pm

I gritted by teeth and looked at the activity of my 401K....during the past year, I've lost almost half of it.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 3:25pm

Looks like Joe and Jane Six-Pack just lost $2 trillion.

===

Retirement accounts have lost $2 trillion
Oct 7 02:45 PM US/Eastern
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - 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.

As Congress investigates the causes and effects of the financial meltdown, the House Education and Labor Committee was hearing from retirement savings and budget analysts on how the housing, credit and other financial troubles have battered pensions and other retirement funds, which are among the most common forms of savings in the United States.

"Unlike Wall Street executives, America's families don't have a golden parachute to fall back on," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the panel chairman. "It's clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis."

More than half the people surveyed in an Associated Press-GfK poll taken Sept. 27-30 said they worry they will have to work longer because the value of their retirement savings has declined.

Orszag indicated the fear is well-founded. Public and private pension funds and employees' private retirement savings accounts—like 401(k)'s—have lost some 20 percent overall since mid-2007, he estimated. Private retirement plans may have suffered slightly more because those holdings are more heavily skewed toward stocks, Orszag added.

"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," Orszag said.

A new AARP study found that because of the economic downturn, one in five workers 45 and older has stopped putting money into a 401(k), IRA or other retirement savings account during the past year, and nearly one in four has increased the number of hours he works.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 8:46am

what happened to these screaming paeans to the falling dow? i guess now that we have president obama it doesn't matter.