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Succession planning is perhaps the single most important issue that owners of family- or privately-owned businesses face. In most cases, the business comprises the single largest asset in a retiring business owner's investment portfolio and is a source of income to multiple family members. Yet many business leaders find as they near retirement, they have neither selected a successor nor instituted a clear plan outlining the transition process. As Joseph H. Astrachan, editor of the Family Business Review, observes, "Succession planning is a growing issue for family businesses due to demographics. Post-World War II entrepreneurs, who created the world's greatest wealth, have reached an age when they must decide how to pass on the wealth secured primarily in their family businesses."