Nearly half of small business owners are concerned they will not have enough money to retire (43 percent) and many say they are worried about not being able to pay for medical costs of a serious illness or accident (47 percent) according to the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey.

Eighty seven percent of small business owners surveyed said they do not plan on a traditional retirement (stopping work completely) although almost half of these (47 percent) say they may cut back on work. This reflects a nine percent increase in the number of small business owners who are not planning a traditional retirement, since the question was last surveyed in Q3 2005. Forty percent (up five percent from Q3 2005) say they will not fully retire or cut back, and will only stop working when they are forced to do so for health reasons. The majority of those who do plan to cut back on work or stop working completely say they will do so at an older age than first planned (60 percent) with two-thirds saying this is due to financial reasons.

"I've always believed you should retire to something, not from something - and there's nothing I'd rather do than continue working in my business," said Carol Kuc, owner of Complete Conference Coordinators in suburban Chicago. "I've already passed typical retirement age, and rather than slowing down, I continue to seek out new business opportunities."

The Index found that the majority of small business owners (62 percent) believe their businesses will continue when they stop working with almost half of these (45 percent) believing their businesses will be continued by a family member. Regardless of who they believe will run their businesses when they retire, small business owners plan to keep busy: 69 percent say in retirement, they will travel more than they have in the past, and 84 percent say they will spend more time pursuing personal hobbies and interests. Nearly one in five (17 percent) say they are considering moving to another state or country.

"Many small business owners are choosing to work later in life, but an increasing number of business owners who wish to retire are finding it difficult," said Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann, executive vice president and head of Wells Fargo's small business segment. "More than one-third of small business owners are concerned that if they retire, they would not be able to maintain the standard of living they enjoy. It is important that small business owners plan ahead for their retirement years, even if they don't foresee stopping work completely."