Sept. 6, 2002 - Successful business owners need more balanced retirement planning help. COLUMBUS, Ohio,  PRNewswire -- America's small-business owners realize their need for help with taxes, but may not understand how much help they need preparing for retirement. This is a key finding from the 2002 Nationwide Financial Survey of High-Income Professionals. Business owners are more likely than other affluent professionals to feel that tax advice is an important service provided by a financial advisor (65 percent versus 50 percent). They also were more concerned about planning for income management in retirement than the total affluent group (72 percent versus 67 percent).

"Retirement is an especially key concern for business owners because much of their net worth is wrapped up in their business," said Brad Sorensen, associate vice president and small-business market manager for Nationwide Financial. "They're often so distracted with the day-to-day pressures of running a business that they fail to get engaged in retirement planning. Often they know little about the financial planning solutions that could provide financial security in their retirement years." Compared to total respondents in the survey, business owners viewed themselves as less knowledgeable about various financial and retirement savings products.

Compared to total respondents in the survey, business owners viewed themselves as less knowledgeable about various financial and retirement savings products:

The E-Serv annual Nationwide Financial High Income Survey, conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, a Washington D.C.-based independent polling firm, surveyed 500 people with annual household incomes of at least $150,000 per year. Respondents were younger than age 60 and were either engaged in financial planning or intending to be involved in it in the near future. Respondents were attorneys, medical doctors, corporate executives or small-business owners (including self-employed individuals).