Workers Retire Later as 401(k)s Dwindle
By Jennifer Porter
This is a great article written by Michael Juliano, staff writer for The Stamford Advocate, Norwalk Advocate, Connecticut Post & Greenwich Time (Hearst Publications).
Workers retire later as 401(k)s dwindle
By Michael C. Juliano
Staff Writer
Kevin McIntosh, a 63-year-old information technology aide for New Canaan Public Schools who spent 30 years in the advertising business, planned to retire at age 65 to his home in Florida to enjoy the sun, play tennis and do some traveling. That was his five-year plan until his retirement nest egg lost 50 percent of its value and the stock market dropped by just as much since the fall of 2007.
“I was going to retire two years from now, but now I’m back at year one,” said McIntosh, who has been saving for retirement for 20 years. “My 401 has become a 101. I worked hard for that money and saved it, but thanks to greedy bankers, I’ve lost it.” McIntosh said he still has much to be grateful for despite the loss. “I have an adoring wife, kids and grandkids,” he said.
Irene, a 68-year-old resident of Norwalk who declined to give her last name, was laid off after 26 years from a job as a credit collections manager for a Norwalk company. She said she enjoys working, but now she must find another job because she and her husband have lost 20 percent of their retirement funds since September in the falling stock market.
“We plan on living another 25 to 30 years, and we feel we don’t have enough for retirement without living in another area,” she said, adding that they want to stay in Norwalk to be near their children, grandchildren and her mother. “I’m kind of locked in.”
McIntosh and Irene are among a growing number of people who are 65 or older and see a need to work beyond retirement age after losing big in the declining stock market, said Jennifer Millea, a spokeswoman for AARP Connecticut. “We’re hearing from our members that there’s a definite increase, that they’re going to have to stay in the work force longer due to market conditions and because their 401(k)s have taken such a hit,” she said.
According to an AARP survey completed in January, 57 percent of 1,100 adults age 45 and older who lost money in their investments over the past year expect to delay retirement as a result. A May 2008 survey of 1,000 such people found a third of workers age 55 to 64 said they postponed plans to retire because of shrinking portfolios, as did 19 percent of people age 45 to 54.
Another survey by JobsOver50.com, a Web site operated by Stamford-based GoliathJobs Inc., found that 84 percent of today’s 50-plus population want to continue working past 65. “When you combine the issues on Wall Street, along with real estate softening, many people are worried that their retirement will not be as rosy as they envisioned,” said David Mezzapelle, GoliathJobs’ founder and director of marketing.
According to a 2008 survey by MetLife Mature Market Institute in Westport, 13 percent of almost 1,100 baby boomers born in 1946 say they have enough money for retirement. The lack of funds can be attributed to a bad market, poor investment choices and longevity, said Anthony Truino, a certified financial planner with Barnum Financial Group, an office of MetLife.
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Copyright © 2009 Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Used with permission.
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