If Congress fails to raise the debt limit, the 401(k) accounts of U.S. workers could fall by as much as 20 percent because of tumult in financial markets, according to a study by the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries.

"As if the uncertainty of this all too familiar crisis weren't enough for America's workers and retirees, the real tragedy is in allowing their retirement security to become another casualty of political failures by Congress and the Administration," the ASPPA's executive director and CEO, Brian Graff, said in a statement. 

Of the $20.9 trillion in retirement savings at the end of the second quarter, $11.1 were held in private employer-sponsored defined contribution plans. Should Congress fail to act, those accounts could lose more than $2 trillion of their value, the ASPPA said.

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