Battered retirement accounts, diminished home values and lack of personal savings are shattering the retirement confidence of middle-income Baby Boomers, the latest study released by the Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center for a Secure Retirement ^SM (CSR) reveals.

The CSR’s Middle-Income Boomers, Financial Security and the New Retirement study, which focused on 500 middle-income Americans between ages 47 and 65 with income between $25,000 and $75,000, found that nearly one-third (21 percent) of Boomers have not seen any rebound in the value of their retirement accounts, 16 percent report owing more on their mortgage than their home is worth, and one-fifth (19 percent) have less than $10,000 in retirement savings.

Boomers are demonstrating a commitment to saving for retirement.  According to the CSR study, one-fifth (18 percent) say that they are saving more money now than before the economic turbulence of the last few years and more than half (55 percent) are spending less on discretionary items than before the recession.

The study also reports a high number of Boomers are maintaining their retirement contributions.  Twenty percent of middle-income Boomers whose employers contribute to their retirement plan report that their employer reduced matching contributions.  However, almost all (95 percent) of those surveyed who participate in their employer’s plan maintained or increased their personal contribution.

Although a majority (52 percent) of Boomers report having a 401(k) and 48 percent say that they own an IRA, the study found that 14 percent of middle-income Boomers do not have a 401(k), IRA, pension or any other type of retirement account.

The study also cites one-third (32 percent) of those surveyed who own a home have already paid off their mortgage.  However, close to half (48 percent) do not expect to have it paid off before they retire.