Eighty-seven percent of small business owners do not plan to retire from work completely, with nearly half (43 percent) saying they’re concerned they will not have enough money to retire, according to the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey.

The number of small business owners not planning traditional retirement is up 9 percent from when the question was last asked in the third-quarter 2005 survey. Forty percent (up 5 percent from 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. Nearly half (47 percent) also say they are worried about being able to pay for medical costs of a serious illness or accident.

“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, in a press release. “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.”

Forty-seven percent say they might cut back on work, but the majority of those who do plan to cut back or stop working completely say they will do so at an older age than first planned. The majority of small business owners (62 percent) believe their businesses will continue when they stop working, with nearly half of those (45 percent) believing a family member will continue their businesses.

The Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index results are based on telephone interviews with 600 small business owners nationwide conducted Oct. 4-14, 2007.