Americans are unprepared for retirement, so much so that it's reached crisis levels, according to the majority of small business owners.

 

Seventy-five percent of small business owners said Americans are so financially unprepared for retirement that it's becoming a crisis, according to a survey by Nationwide Financials released Monday. Still, less than 20 percent of small business owners say they offer employees a 401(k) or other employee self-funded retirement plan.

Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about retirement as the economic downturn stymied income growth and wreaked havoc on investments such as stock portfolios and homes. More than three quarters of middle-class Americans said they don't think they'll be able to afford to retire until they're 80, according to a recent survey from Wells Fargo [WFC  24.22    0.07  (+0.29%)   ]. And two-thirds of Americans ranked not having enough money for retirement as their top financial concern in a recent Gallup poll, up from 53 percent 10 years ago.