Senior discounts won’t stop this financial meltdown.

New York City’s richest retirees can’t shake off the Great Recession — they’ve cut spending to the bone, fearing another stock market crash, according to new research and personal finance experts.

“The market has taught them lessons,” Beth Finkel, New York State director of the American Association of Retired People (AARP), told The Post.

“Even if things are going well, they’ve learned the lessons of the last market cycle and the economy. It is certainly troubling, especially if you magnify it by the demographic numbers,” Finkel said.

The stark demographic numbers from the US Census Bureau paint a future of diminishing spending: About 2.6 million of New York City’s 8.4 million residents are 50 years of age or older, nearing retirement or retired — and 30 percent of them are 65 or older.

By 2030, this latter group is projected to account for 16 percent of the city’s population.

With city retirees’ spending now sharply curbed, the damage to the local economy is incalculable. AARP estimates local retirees contribute about $100 billion annually to the New York City economy. The corresponding statewide tab is $600 billion.

But that’s changing.

“I think you are going to see a lot of baby boomers in New York City selling off their vacation homes soon in the Hamptons,” said James Dean, who studies luxury spending and financial habits as senior vice president at WealthEngine.

Dean says recent city retirees are downsizing — putting the brakes on their non-essential spending. This will result, he says, in a large inventory of unsold luxury second homes, which could see their prices slump by as much as 10 percent to 20 percent over the next 18 months.

Dean notes another trend among city retirees. “There’s a whole lot of less going on,” he said. “They will still travel, but it’ll be a bit more selective. They’ll scale down on their primary residence, too, because they need the extra income for their retirement.”

It doesn’t surprise local financial advisers. “Today’s retirees went through the 2008 financial crisis, and whether it is cutting down on extra dinners out or whatever, they are downsizing,” said Jerome Golden, president of Golden Retirement in New York City. “They’ve been driven to this.”

Many of the city’s recently retired well-heeled boomers have a mind-set more akin to survivors of the 1930s Great Depression.

T. Rowe Price, in a new study, noted how many recently retired workers now take in less than two-thirds of their pre-retirement income — 401(k)s and Social Security included.

Some manage on less than the 70 percent to 80 percent of their pre-retirement income that most financial planners estimate they need. Four out of 10 live on 60 percent or less.

Most are still recovering financially from the market’s last precipitous collapse.

“People were absolutely scarred,” said Paul Golden of the National Endowment for Financial Education. “It was jarring to people who were nearing retirement.”