After the second world war, there was a surge in the population which is now more commonly known as the baby boomer generation. Sixty or so years on these baby boomers have started to retire. In fact in the UK in 2006 there were more pensioners than children and by 2029 there will be some 5M more baby boomer pensioners. There are about 4M businesses in the UK and of these about 3.2 million are one person businesses with a further one million having up to 249 employees.  It is estimated that, as the baby boomer owners start to retire, 30% of these businesses will transfer ownership during the next 10 years. That is 1.5 million businesses! And with fewer younger entrepreneurs coming through  many of these businesses will not be sold but simply shut down. According to the Office of National Statistics 67% of us either have no idea or only know vaguely how much our  pensions will be. And many of us do not think we can live on whatever pension provision we have made. The sad fact is that … [Read more...]