WASHINGTON — When she left her job as a Navy engineer, Andi Smith stopped saving for retirement. Her husband, Mark, still saves through an employee plan, but they have had to cut back on vacations and other spending for themselves and their three young children.

        “We pay pretty close attention to how we're spending our money,” Mrs. Smith, who lives in Springfield, Va., said Thursday.

        Americans appear to be less optimistic about retirement, with fewer believing they will have enough money to live comfortably. At the same time, fewer are saving to do something about it as the economy has sagged, a survey shows.

        In a report released this week by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the American Savings Education Council, 71 percent of those polled said they have saved for retirement, down from 75 percent last year.

        Among minorities, 54 percent of blacks, 50 percent of Hispanics and 78 percent of Asians said they have saved for retirement.

        The survey also showed a sharp decline in confidence regarding the future, with 63 percent of workers saying they feel confident they will have enough to live comfortably in retirement, down from 72 percent in 2000.

        The diminished confidence is likely due to the stock market tumble, the shaky economy and rising unemployment in recent months, the two groups said.

        Growing public awareness of the high cost of prescription drugs and long-term health care also is a factor, they said.

        “The decline in retirement confidence has occurred as public attention to the high cost of prescription drugs and long-term care has increased,” Dallas Salisbury, the institute's president and chief executive officer, said in a news release. “Fifty-one percent of those who retire early say it is for a medical reason, and confidence in having the funds for medical expenses or for long-term care is very low.”

        The survey also showed that many workers underestimate how much money they will receive from Social Security, and that fewer people now are trying to calculate how much money they need to save for a comfortable retirement.

        Legislation intended to let Americans build a bigger retirement nest egg passed the House for a fourth time this month by a lopsided margin, and some lawmakers expect it also will clear the Senate this year. The measure would increase contribution limits for IRAs and 401(k)s and encourage companies to offer traditional pensions.

        The institute, a research group that advocates employee benefit programs but does not take posi tions on legislative proposals, and the council, a savings education group, are partners in the “Choose to Save” public awareness campaign.

        The national survey was conducted in January and February in telephone interviews with 1,000 people, age 25 and older, and included 762 workers and 238 retirees. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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