For Gen X investors, dotcom bubble haunts stock market portfolios closing in on retirement 

A man looks over the plunging stock market indices at the Nasdaq MarketSite, December 20, 2000, in New York City's Times Square. Chris Hondros | Hulton Archive | Getty ImagesWhile baby boomers hog most of the attention in conversations about retirement, Gen Xers are marching toward the same destination, and in many cases, without key financial benefits of the former generation. Retiring by 55 in America is mostly a relic of the defined benefit pension plan-funded past. Now, most people in the 50-55 range are still looking at 10 to 15 working years ahead. That extends the years during which they are continuing to contribute to 401(k) plans and IRAs to grow their wealth, and time in the market is the greatest long-term advantage investors have. But the closer an individual gets to retirement, the more an ill-timed market crash can seriously set them back. Gen X is the age group — roughly defined as those born between 1965 and 1980 — heavily impacted by the shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pensions, as workplace pensions became less common. Only 14% of Gen X workers have a traditional pension, compared with 56% of boomers, according to research from Alliance's Retire...