Press release
Northern Trust Releases Second Annual Business Owner Benchmark
Survey findings and insights from The Northern Trust Institute highlight growing need for proactive and comprehensive wealth planning among business owners
About this update from Northern Trust Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\nSurvey findings and insights from The Northern Trust Institute highlight growing need for proactive and comprehensive wealth planning among business owners and entrepreneurs\n\n CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nNorthern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) announced today the results of its second annual Business Owner Benchmark, a survey of more than 150 business owners conducted by The Northern Trust Institute. The report, based on the survey conducted in third quarter of 2022, provides an inside view across four key themes on how business owners and entrepreneurs are deploying their wealth and what drives them as they look to the future.\n\nThe “New” Retirement\n\nWhile many business owners may be looking forward to downshifting as they approach retirement age, a third of the survey’s respondents (32%) indicated that they are not interested in retiring and plan to be actively involved in their business as long as they can. A full 19% indicated that they do not plan to retire at all and instead intend to work just as hard starting something new, such as building a new business or creating a family foundation.\n\n“This shift in what retirement looks like reflects the pursuit of purpose and impact that many business owners value beyond just the drive to create wealth,” said Eric Czepyha, Northern Trust’s Director of Business Services. “To prepare for this second phase, business owners should consider implementing a formulaic approach to evaluating new private investment opportunities, exploring various sources of capital for funding their ‘next big thing’ and making sure that their heirs are prepared to inherit the unique and complex assets they invest in.”\n\nInheritance: Who Gets What, and Why?\n\nAlthough over 90% of survey respondents indicated that they have some sort of estate plan in place, one in three have not updated their estate plans over the past year, and 11% have not done so for at least the past three years. The top three drivers that led respondents to create their estate plans were achieving a certain level of wealth (52%), encouragement from their advisors (46%), and having a child (33%).\n\nWhile major life events tend to be the main catalysts for motivating business owners to make estate planning a priority, estate plans should be reviewed at least every few years absent a change in circumstances. This is particularly true for...