Saving for retirement is getting tougher

Just over half of Americans are investing in a retirement plan, but the tumultuous financial markets are making it a more arduous task, according to a new survey. Slightly more than one-third of Americans (34%) said that they had less than $50,000 in investible assets, only 21% said that they had more than that amount, and 17% had nothing saved at all, according to the survey, by TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. of Omaha, Neb. In another finding, 22% of respondents between 35 and 44 indicated that they had stopped or reduced their retirement plan contributions altogether, more than any other age group. Half of those who reduced or stopped contributing to their retirement plan said they did so because of the recent downturn. Americans also cited unemployment (32%) and rising health care costs (25%) as key factors that affected their ability to contribute to their retirement plans. People are concerned that health care costs will have an effect on their retirement lifestyle, said Diane Young, director of retirement and goal planning at TD Ameritrade. "The rising costs are clearly catching everyone's attention, with companies' cutting back," she said. It is not just retirement planning that has taken a hit. Eighty-seven of Americans said that they had cut their spending in the past year, according to the survey. The telephone survey, of 1,005 American adults, was conducted in mid-September by Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton, N.J.