"The lack of retirement planning by so many people is stunning, especially since business owners have no one else to rely on when it comes to putting their retirement plans in place," says Mary Quist-Newins, director of the State Farm Center for Women and Financial Services at The American College.  "When you consider that the mean age of our respondents is just over 50 you have to wonder, 'What are these individuals waiting for?'  Retirement will be upon them before they know it.  Small business owners need to start preparing for retirement now."

Additional findings from the research raise questions about the quality of retirement preparation being done by the majority of small business owners. 

For example, while 66 percent of the women and 70 percent of the men say they had developed an estimate of their retirement needs, only half of these individuals have done so with the assistance of a financial professional. A quarter of the survey participants use online calculators, which often have serious limitations in adequately projecting changes in inflation, taxes, medical expenses and income streams. The remainder arrived at an estimate by performing simple calculations themselves using pencil and paper.

The survey also reveals that most business owners do not have a formal plan to achieve their financial objectives.  Among the small business owners surveyed, 77 percent of the women and 74 percent of the men have no written plan for retirement.