Several factors are making succession planning for executive level positions more important than ever before. First, there are large numbers of aging executives at a point in their career where retirement is a distinct possibility. Of the 500 companies in the standard and Poor's Index, 17 percent have CEOs age 63 and older. And early retirement appears to be an increasingly popular choice among middle-level managers (those who might be expected to ascend to the executive ranks). When AT&T offered its recent voluntary retirement packages as a staff reduction strategy, 50 percent more middle-level managers accepted the buyout than company had anticipated. It is, therefore,not surprising that the average Fortune 500 company anticipates 33 percent turnover among its executives over the next five years.