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Oct 7, 2008 12:53 pm US/Eastern
Economy Delaying Retirement Plans Across The Globe
CBS 2's Jay Dow Speaks To NYC Employees Who Say Financial Crisis Making Them Rethink Their Plans
Reporting
Jay Dow
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Consumer, money, graphic
AP
The financial crisis has taken its toll on Wall Street. Now, middle-aged Americans are worrying about their futures. Many pension funds and 401k retirement accounts suffered major losses, and as CBS 2's Jay Dow reports, people are now delaying their retirement plans.
Renee Kopel thought she had a great life plan: work, save, and retire.
"I've been working since I was 12-years-old," said Kopel, Marketing Director of William Barthman Jeweler.
But working for William Barthman, the famed jeweler to the financial district, Kopel sees the panic swirling up and down Wall Street and she suspects she may have to put her retirement plans on hold.
"The last thing I thought about was that I'd have to worry," she said.
But a third of the middle-aged workers surveyed by AARP say they are considering delaying retirement. Twenty percent say they have stopped contributing to their retirement plans in the last year.
If you're like Renee, says CBS 2's Jay Dow, in your mid-fifties, ten to fifteen years away from retirement and you didn't have a crystal ball last month, chances are you're too afraid to look at your 401k, let alone make any changes to it.
"I don't want to see it going down. I don't want to get into that nervous state of anxiety," said Kopell.
She isn't the only one feeling the stress of the global economic downfall.
CBS 2 asked some other people in similar situations:
CBS 2: 'Do you think you're going to be working longer than you'd like?'
Penny Canty, Queens Resident: 'As long as my health holds up, yes. I have to.'
Jim Zamparelli of TTI Staffing, Inc. added this:
"I would have liked to retire at or before 60. But as you can see, I'm still working. Unfortunately, I think there's a lot more men and women out there like my self right now."
It's not the rosiest outlook. But for middle-aged workers like Kopel:
"I'm an optimist."
Her retirement goals are still crystal clear.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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