Excerpt: Interest in creating employee stock-ownership plans seems to be ticking up among business owners worried that capital-gains tax rates soon may rise. They may want to sell now while the rates stay at 15%. These are tough times for selling a privately owned business. Valuations are low as the economy struggles to emerge from its recession, and even where buyers and sellers can agree on price, it can be difficult to secure bank financing to complete a deal. That's pushing some business owners to create their own buyers -- in the form of employee stock-ownership plans that also serve the purpose of providing employees with retirement benefits.

MORE >>