More business owners are delaying retirement or altering their retirement strategy due to the slumped economy, a Wells Fargo/Gallup survey shows.
The latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index shows many business owners surveyed in July are looking at a later retirement, with 69 percent of business owners not planning to retire or cut back on work until age 65 or older.
This is a 17 percentage point increase in this category from December 2007 and a 28 percentage point increase from September 2005.
Respondents saying they plan to retire earlier than full retirement age (between ages 60 and 64) decreased to 21 percent from 27 percent. Those anticipating retiring before age 60 decreased to 11 percent from 21 percent in December ’07.
Sixty-two percent of business owners surveyed indicated that they made changes to their retirement strategy as a result of the economic downturn. With continued pressure from the current economic environment, 68 percent of business owners say they are worried about not being able to build back retirement savings lost during the recent economic downturn.
Since fourth quarter of 2007, fewer respondents (63 percent vs. 79 percent in 2007) were confident that they will have enough money to live comfortably when they do retire.
