Author: By Todd Smith, Principal, CFAR

In the United States, people are living significantly longer. Today, US census data tells us that our average life expectancy is 79.4 years old – a full ten years more than 50 years ago (69.6 in 1955).

Roughly half of small business owners in the U.S. are now over the age of 50, and a large share of first-generation founders are approaching, or well past, traditional retirement age. Longer, healthier lifespans mean many owners are choosing to stay active in leadership far longer than their parents did, sometimes well into their 70s and 80s. This happens for good reasons leading generation members still want meaning in their lives well into their traditional retirement years. They may also be reliant on the operating company as a source of income in their planned retirement years. And, frankly, it can be difficult to let go of something a founder has spent their entire life building. These factors, among others, can discourage “letting go” of control.

As one can imagine, this choice to retain control has consequences. Though they are not universal – in some family systems, early work on the concept of stewardship keeps the family in alignment during an extended transition; in others, the perceived lack of control and/or feelings of infantilization can become all-consuming. Regardless, for the following generations to thrive together a new balance must be struck.

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