A Snapshot of Retirement Confidence in America

http://viableopposition.blogspot.ca/2014/04/a-snapshot-of-retirement-confidence-in.html

A recent brief by the Employee Benefit Research Institute looks at the level of confidence that Americans have about funding their retirement.  It provides us with an interesting look at how retirement confidence varies across the household income spectrum.

Americans' confidence in their ability to retire to a life of comfort and financial security was shattered during the Great Recession, hitting low levels not seen going back to the early 1990s.  This can be attributed to the drop in the value of equities and the general uncertainty in the economy as a whole.  I also suspect that the current and sustained lower level of confidence is likely related to Mr. Bernanke's long experiment with near-zero interest rates that has impacted returns on retiree and retirement savings.