Nearly One in Seven Small Business Owners Not Confident About Retirement

Sixty-nine percent of small business owners have zero to little confidence they will be able to retire comfortably, Paychex found in a survey.

Thirty percent said they were somewhat confident, 21% said they were not at all confident, and 18% fall between somewhat confident and not at all confident—adding up to a total of 69%. Only 20% said they were very confident they will have enough money to retire comfortably.

Asked what could help improve their situation, 68% said being able to save more. Other ways they would like to receive financial help were assistance in converting a portfolio balance into monthly income, cited by 10%; guidance on investments and the appropriate savings rate, also cited by 10%; and retirement tools to cover a wide range of expenses, including health care, cited by 8%. Fifteen percent said that nothing would help them feel more confident about retirement.

Paychex cites a GOBankingRates survey conducted in 2016 that found 69% of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. In 2017, the Employee Benefits Research Institute found that 33% of Americans worry about covering basic living expenses in retirement.

Paychex says that small business owners cannot rely solely on selling their businesses to fund their retirement. Rather, they should set up a 401(k) plan.

Bredin conducted the online survey for Paychex last August among 341 principals of companies with 500 employees or less.