Thursday, 22 December 2011

Postponing Retirement Due To The GFC The New American Dream

By Gnifrus Urquart


For several years now, the American middle class has been struggling due to a sluggish economy. Solutions have been proposed and executed but the outcome has been limited. As the world economy continues to drag, and governments try to stop any fiscal bleeding, workers have changed their plans postponing retirement due to the GFC, Global Financial Crisis.

The biggest earning class hurt in this mess is the middle income earners. People have seen their 401(k)s dwindle or destroyed. They have been forced to deplete their retirement plans. And for the young, the dream of building a nest egg has been replaced with the need for financial survival.

There have been many factors that have been considered responsible for the global financial meltdown. Many analysts blame the mortgage backed securities. This is where lenders approved too many loans for people that just couldn't afford them. Wall street firms bundled these loans together and sold them as funds for people to invest in.

Retirement fund managers invested in these risky securities. Mortgage defaults by those who over extended themselves marked the top of the housing markets and home values began to drop at an alarming pace. The impact was devastating, and pension plans and funds lost great value and even went extinct.

The affect on Wall Street was devastating to stock values. Trillions of dollars of market capitalization was lot overnight. The overall markets plunged at record paces. Dropping to lows that haven't been seen in many years. This of course spiraled over to the international markets and their economies were devastated. The start of global depression was at hand.

Global authorities around the world in the major markets raced to stop the bleeding. Economic experts met with the big banks and the federal reserve to try to stop what could become the biggest depression ever seen in modern times.

In a recession or depression, we normally see bigger businesses consuming smaller business. A small operation simply can not compete as lending and available credit dries up. They are then forced into drastic measures, such as employee cut backs or simply halt operations. Many times the money begins to accumulate with a smaller percentage of the population or among the larger corporations, creating a big class division. Many that sought to retire at the normal age find themselves forced to work instead of enjoying retirement. Many people were caught unprepared by these turn of events, and there is hope that things will get better.




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