The Spectrem Affluent Investor Index dropped 13 points in January, reaching an all-time low of -13. The index, which measures the investment outlook of households with $500,000 or more in investable assets, saw its biggest 1-month decline since its inception in February 2004. The drop erases its 5-point gain last December.

The Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index also saw major losses in January, plummeting 14 points to a new record low of -6. The index has lost more than 25 points since May 2007.

"Affluent investors and millionaires alike saw their investment optimism drop to new lows in January as major stock-market declines and concerns about a U.S. recession combined for a powerful one-two punch," says George H. Walper Jr., president of Spectrem Group. "This dropped the investment outlook for affluent investors to mildly bearish territory for the first time since we began tracking it in February 2004. Millionaires, typically more bullish than the broader affluent population, remained neutral despite a big decline."

Both millionaires and affluent investors cited stock market conditions, the economic environment and retirement issues as the most important factors influencing their investing decisions in an open-ended questionnaire asked by Spectrem Group in January.