Older Americans hit hardest by economic crisis

Washington, November 25 : Older Americans have been most impacted by the current economic slump and its implications need to be dealt with, experts have said.

The researchers revealed, during a symposium at The Gerontological Society of America's (GSA) 61st Annual Scientific Meeting, that the financial crisis had set worrying trends for the aged Americans that showed its affect on their retirement accounts.

Richard W. Johnson, PhD, principal research associate at the Urban Institute, said: "The slumping stock market, falling housing prices, and weakening economy have serious repercussions for the 94 million Americans age 50 and older who are approaching retirement or already retired.

"Older Americans have little time to recoup the values of their homes, 401(k) plans, and individual retirement accounts - all important parts of their retirement nest eggs. More and more older Americans are working to bolster their retirement incomes, but the rising unemployment rate, now 6.5 percent, limits their prospects."

Peter G. Peterson Foundation Vice President C. Eugene Steuerle, PhD, another speaker at the symposium, which was an outreach of GSA's public policy initiative session, confirmed the extent to which the situation had spread.

He said: "The current financial crisis has involved a loss in the U.S. of perhaps 15 trillion dollars and a world-wide loss several-fold larger; these are numbers that vary widely from week to week. Among those most affected are those who were planning on spending down their assets in retirement or as they move toward retirement".

ANI