PORTLAND, Ore. -- Jim and Rosalyn Brunelle had a different view of what their retirement would be like. They thought it would be a smooth road, watching their grandchildren grow up. But the recent stock market crash has them concerned.

“In the last couple of weeks, we’ve lost quite a bit.” Said Jim Brunelle.

He worked for 43 years, as a financial analyst for Columbia Sportswear and a chemical company. His wife, Rosalyn, has worked several jobs, more recently as a hairdresser.

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“I’m concerned about this. I mean, we have our house paid off. We have our retirement. Here we are. There’s no income coming in and it’s just going down.” Said Rosalyn.

The couple is one of many Americans worried about their financial future. In a recent study, 56 percent of Americans now rate their financial situation as fair or poor. Baby boomers are the most worried, those who had planned their retirement’s fear that their nest eggs are shrinking.

“I tell them to relax.” Said Michael Carrano, financial analyst for Edward Jones. “In every diversified market, you should have stocks that are going up and others that are going down.”

Carrano says beware of knee-jerk responses but take a close look at your investments. If they are good solid companies, you might want to ride out the storm.

“If it was a good quality stock, hang on. retain the dividend, maybe the value will go up over the course of time”

But how long will that take? Experts predict it could be a couple months or a couple of years.

“By then we could be in our eighties.” Said Rosalyn Brunelle.

Anita Willette, 72, is hopeful.

“I think it will turn around. Everything in life is cyclical.”