In Practice April 15, 2009
Small Biz Worried About Retirement, Committed to Health Care
Apparently workers aren’t the only ones worried about retirement.
Reported by Nevin E. Adams
Forty-one percent of business owners indicated they were on track to save for their own retirement, though that’s down 10% from spring 2008.
According to the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, the number of business owners concerned about saving for retirement has risen to 79% from 73% last spring and only 38% report having a succession plan for their business. A contributing factor to the change in retirement savings may be that 60% are tapping personal finances to help fund their enterprises.
That said, small business owners still value healthcare coverage for their employees As entrepreneurs look to cut expenses, those that offer healthcare coverage appear to be protecting it. Traditionally, small business owners have kept healthcare coverage safe, according to the report. Two-thirds of business owners (66%) offer healthcare coverage to their employees, unchanged from last spring. Additionally, the number of bosses who agree it is important (64%) to offer healthcare coverage to their employees is on par with last year (65%).
Manufacturers are far more likely to offer healthcare benefits; three-quarters (75%) offer healthcare coverage to their employees (vs. 66% of services companies and 55% of retailers). As manufacturers are the most likely to have cash flow concerns, it is not surprising they are also more likely to have shopped for a new insurance carrier (23% vs. 16% of services companies and 9% of retailers) or required their employees to pay a larger share of healthcare costs (9% vs. 8% of retailers and 2% of services companies).