New research from Rathbones suggests this confidence may be misplaced. And for those approaching the point where retirement starts to feel real rather than distant, the gap between what many owners expect and what they have in place is worth examining now, not later.
Three in ten business owners have no pension at all, and 44% do not hold an Individual Savings Account (ISA), despite the vast majority holding cash savings. Taken together, these findings suggest many business owners may be overlooking some of the most effective ways to build long-term financial security.
The result is a significant reliance on short-term cash and long-term assumptions about business value, at a time when economic and tax uncertainty is rising.
Are you ready for what a business exit can, and cannot, deliver?
It is easy to understand why business owners prioritise their company. The business demands capital, attention and resilience, often leaving little room to think about life beyond it.
The challenge is that a business as an asset is unpredictable. Economic shocks, regulatory changes, changes in buyer appetite, or the loss of a major client can quickly alter its future value.
Even a successful sale may not guarantee the retirement income many owners expect. Without other assets in place, business owners can find themselves asset-rich on paper but short of reliable income in practice, particularly where earn-outs extend for years after a sale completes.
Reviewing where you stand now, before that moment arrives, is what readiness looks like.
Cash rich, but necessarily retirement ready?
Ninety-five per cent of business owners hold cash. Yet almost half do not hold an ISA, and three in ten have no pension savings at all.
Cash plays an important role in day-to-day resilience, but relying on it for the long term reduces growth potential, weakens protection against inflation, and limits tax efficiency. It is a foundation, not a retirement plan.
The question worth asking is not whether you have cash. It is whether it is being over-relied on for long-term retirement income, and whether the assets that matter most for your future are being built alongside it.
Why pensions still play an important role
Pensions remain one of the most powerful and tax-efficient tools available to business owners, and one of the most underutilised.
For limited company owners, employer pension contributions can be made directly from profits before Corporation Tax and without National Insurance (NI). With NI rising to 15% from 2026/27, this makes pension contributions an even more valuable part of a well-structured plan.
If a pension is not already in place, or has not been reviewed recently, now is the right moment to change that.
Building the assets that protect what matters most
Robust retirement planning is not about replacing your business as an asset. It is about building diversified assets alongside it so that your future does not depend entirely on a single exit event going to plan. That means building retirement income from pensions, ISAs, and investments outside the business, not just planning for the proceeds of a future sale.
Done well, this can provide greater flexibility over when and how you step back from the business, while giving you more confidence about the future.
That means reviewing your ISA allowance, your pension contributions, and the balance between cash and longer-term investments. It means understanding what income you will need, when you will need it, and how your current plans stack up against that picture.
The business you have built is something to be proud of. The goal is to make sure it is part of your retirement story, not the whole of it.
Ready to review? Here is where to start
If you are approaching the point where retirement feels closer than it once did, a structured review of your retirement planning proposition is one of the most valuable things you can do right now. You may want to consider:
- How much of your wealth is currently tied up in the business.
- Whether you already have a pension in place, and whether pension contributions from your company could support your long-term retirement planning.
- Whether you are making full use of your ISA allowance as part of your personal wealth outside the business.
- How much cash you are holding, what role it is expected to play, and whether it is being over-relied on for long-term retirement income.
- Whether building pensions, ISAs, and other investments alongside your business could give you greater flexibility and control over your future.
If you’d like to explore how this could apply to your circumstances, our experts are here to help you review your options and discuss next steps that suit your situation.
Our Retirement Readiness Review is a named one-to-one conversation with one of our financial planners, designed to help you understand where you are, where you want to be, and what needs to happen in between.
Reach out to your usual Rathbones contact, or fill out our enquiry form below to arrange yours.
Invest well. Live well.
