This is truly sad..... Not hard to understand - but sad - because so many people will live really poorly in retirement IF they can retire at all.
Why do Americans have such a love-hate relationship with the stock market? Despite being proven, time and time again, as one of the best wealth generators in history, U.S. adults grow hot and cold about the market, embracing it as it fills their 401k plans with assets, but shunning and distrusting it at the first sign of risk.
The latter mindset is taking hold right now, according to a brand new survey from Bankrate.com Across all adult age levels, 73% of Americans say they are “not inclined” to invest in the stock market right now. That, despite low interest rates on cash and fixed income, and stock market returns exceeding 30% in 2013, Bankrate points out.
If you think that Americans are growing fickle about stocks because it’s a relative off year for equities, think again. In 2013, when the stock market soared, 76% of Americans said they were largely avoiding stocks, in a similar Bankrate study.
“Americans may be avoiding the buy-high, sell-low habit seen in previous market cycles, but only because they’re not buying at all,” notes Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst. “An overly conservative investment stance compounds the problem that so many Americans have of not saving enough for longer-range goals like retirement.”
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