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A new survey of financial satisfaction recorded its largestquarterly drop ever this year, one measure of how profoundly thecoronavirus pandemic, worsening across the United States, hasaffected the financial standing of Americans and retirementplanning.

The American Institute of CPAs' Q2 2020 Personal Financial Satisfaction index (PFSi)showed a 55% drop from the previous quarter. AICPA said the dropwas the largest ever in the history of the index, which uses avariety of data sources to capture whether and how U.S. residentsare feeling more financial pleasure than pain.

AICPA said the downturn was most dramatically affected by a risein underemployment, where a current job doesn't fully utilize aworker's skills.

"Underemployment is plaguing workers around the world. Althoughthere are no global statistics yet, the phenomenon is expected togrow as the economic crisis around the world deepens, saideconomist Roger Gomis of the International Labor Organization,"according to a recent Associated Press report.

Also contributing to the drop in financial satisfaction was asteep decline in AICPA's CPA Outlook Index, a measure of year-aheadexpectations from in-house executives for their companies and theeconomy more broadly. AICPA said the decrease was fueled by risingpessimism about the health of the economy in the coming year.

The AICPA's Q4 2019 index had marked a new high for the seventhtime in the last ten quarters, driven in large part by stock marketgains.

Meanwhile, The Senior Citizens League has released a new survey showing how the COVID-19 crisishas affected older Americans. Nearly half of therespondentS—48%—said they had gone without certain essential items,including food, disinfectants and personal protectiveequipment.

The Senior Citizens League survey also captured how deeply thevirus crisis had affected retirement savings—45% of respondentssaid their savings had dropped significantly and forced efforts toreduce spending.

"Our survey suggests that almost half of the nation's retireesmay not have the resources needed to cope with COVID-19," MaryJohnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for TheSenior Citizens League, said in a statement. Johnson added: "Theability to withstand major downturns in the economy is particularlyimportant in retirement, yet extraordinarily difficult for today'sretirees and those nearing retirement."

The pandemic's affect on financial satisfaction and retirementplanning has also broadly touched millennials and Gen Z. A June2020 survey from Travis Credit Union in Vacaville,California, showed 8 out of 10 respondents reported feeling stressor anxiety about saving money.

"In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and an economic recession,Millennials and Gen Zers are learning the importance of havingthese funds tucked away for a rainy day," the Travis CU surveysaid. "Three out of four say that the impact of coronavirus haschanged their saving habits and that it will continue to shapetheir financial habits going forward."

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• Retirement savings were more exposed to market riskdue to COVID-19
• Pandemic sinks Americans' personal financialsatisfaction

Mike Scarcella is a senior editor inWashington at Law.com. Contact him at [email protected] and followon Twitter @MikeScarcella.