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from MacroScope:

Crisis? What Crisis?

The title of this post is taken from two sources. One was a headline in British tabloid, The Sun, in January 1979, when then-prime minister James Callaghan denied that strike-torn Britain was in chaos. The second was the title of a 1975 album by prog rock band Supertramp that famously showed someone sunbathing amidst the grey awfulness of the declining industrial landscape.

Are we now getting blasé about the latest crisis? Not so long ago, perfectly respectable economists and financial analysts were talking about a new Great Depression. The world was on the brink, it was said. Now, though, consensus appears to be that it is all over bar the shouting. The world is safe.

Wealth managers at Barclays have gone as far as telling their clients to get over it.

Move past the crisis .... The past year's events were deeply traumatic for most investors, but now is the time to move on, and take a more "business as usual" approach ...."

Are you postponing your retirement?

Most Americans felt investment pain in 2008 as the value of retirement accounts and other assets dropped along with the economy. But older Americans are feeling particularly hard-hit by the financial crisis and many now say they must now postpone their retirement, according to a survey by the AARP, which represents older Americans. The survey, released on Friday, showed 57 percent of those who were employed or looking for work and who lost money in their investments over the past year expected to delay retirement and work longer. It also found 36 percent of workers had stopped putting money into their retirement accounts in the past 12 months.

Have you decided to postpone retirement because of investment losses? How much longer will you have to work to afford retirement? Is the concept of retirement a thing of the past?