Highlights of the AARP retirement survey
By Laura Bruce • Bankrate.com

A recent AARP survey showed that more than three-fourths of Americans with retirement savings had seen them shrink in the past two years.

Here's how those who lost money plan to cope:

The key findings of the AARP survey of individuals who currently own stocks, either as individual stocks or through mutual funds or other types of investment accounts, including 401(k)s and IRAs, include:

• Over the past two years, 77 percent indicate that they lost money in stocks.
  
  
• Of those who have lost money in stocks and have not yet retired, 21 percent have postponed retirement as a result of their losses.
  
  
• Among those who have postponed retirement, more than 20 percent now expect to retire after the age of 69. Only 1 percent of these individuals had originally expected to retire after the age of 69.
  
  
• Of investors who lost money in stocks and have already retired, 10 percent either have returned to work due to their losses or decided to continue working due to their losses.
  
  
• Across all respondents who have lost money in stocks, 59 percent say that they are budgeting their money more carefully as a result of their losses, and 30 percent have postponed making a major purchase.
  
  
• As a result of their stock market losses, 43 percent of investors think they will be less comfortable in retirement than they had previously expected, and 20 percent expect to have difficulty paying for health care and prescription drugs during retirement.

-- Posted: Dec. 20, 2002