Read excerpt below:

January 30, 2009
By Adrian Sainz - Associated Press
washingtonpost.com

Many Americans have found themselves changing their plans for retirement after losing a substantial amount of home equity as the housing market and the overall U.S. economy struggle.

Homeowners who have tapped their home equity, then spent it like Monopoly money, find themselves with no more funds to extract.

Ideas of a comfy retirement full of relaxation and travel have been abandoned.

The good news is about 30 percent of homeowners have no mortgage at all. So even though their properties are probably worth less now than a few years ago, these people can tap into that equity cushion if necessary.

The bad news, though, is that about one in six with a mortgage now owe the bank more than their homes are worth, according to Moody's Economy.com. Most are property owners who purchased their homes within the past few years, or refinanced their properties and siphoned off too much equity.

Read entire article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/30/AR2009013001678.html