Instability In Financial Markets Affecting Retirement Accounts

As the turmoil in the financial markets continues to affect many different aspects of our lives, one obvious area  has been to our retirement accounts.  Depending on what types of investments you currently hold in your portfolio, you have most likely seen a decrease in value. According to this statement of Peter Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office and data from the Federal Reserve, the decline in the value of financial assets cost pension funds (private-sector and public-sector combined) roughly $1 trillion-almost 10 percent of their assets-since the second quarter of 2008, and there has been a significant drop in asset prices since then. You can also refer to an interesting transcript with Director Olszag discussing the market turmoil on PBS.

SOURCE: PBS: The Online Newshour