Mass affluent investors have a generally pessimistic view with regard to investing, a new study by MFS Investment Management reveals.

According to the findings, the impact of the 2008 global financial crisis continues to weigh down on most people's outlook, as well as concerns over potential reductions in social security, which could impact investors' ability to retire.

Mass affluent was defined by MFS as those individuals with between $100,000 and $1 million in investable assets.

Of the respondents, 44 per cent of mass affluent investors said they had reduced discretionary spending over the past 12 months, while only 14 per cent increased it. When asked whether they have become more concerned about being able to retire when they thought they would be able to do so, 59 per cent of the participants said yes. Meanwhile, 49 per cent confirmed that they have lowered their expectations about what life will be like in retirement.

Despite the pessimism, however, some factors remained in investors' favor, such as the accumulation of significant wealth, considering that the median household investable assets are around $306,000. A good 95 per cent reported owning their own homes, with more than $194,000 in median home equity.

"Mass affluent investors are in better shape than they give themselves credit for, with significant assets and strong home equity positions despite a weakened market," said William Finnegan, the senior managing director of US retail marketing for MFS.

"They demonstrate a willingness to seek professional investment advice, which can open the door for advisors to deliver the emotional reassurance needed and to engage them about topics important to their long-term financial wellbeing, including risk tolerance assumptions and current portfolio allocations."

The study was conducted through Research Collaborative from 7 to 14 February 2011 on 596 individual investors with $100,000 or more in household investable assets and 610 financial advisors who have been licensed for at least three years with at least $500,000 in annual mutual fund sales.