Business

4 Ways to Prepare For Retirement as a Business Owner

Retirement offers days of doing whatever you want without dealing with alarm clocks. No one has to rush to work, and they can live on their own schedule. For business owners, this time lets them leave the stress behind and just enjoy life. When planning for retirement, a business owner has a few more checklist items than others do. These four tips can help business owners get prepared for retirement.  

1. Decide If You Want to Sell Your Company

Retiring business owners must decide if they want to sell their company or shut it down. If they sell, there is at least two to three years of preparation involved. The owner needs three years of tax returns, financial statements, and debt assessments.  

Investors hoping to buy the company will want explicit information about past and anticipated profits. They’ll want operations details and an expense assessment. A lot of preparations go into selling a business, and it’s not the same as shutting it down. Get an appraisal and assessment if you are going to sell your business.

2. Assess All Assets and Investments

Appraisals for assets and valuations for investments help business owners make sound decisions. If they want to sell certain assets, the owner must separate them from the business. A business sale involves relinquishing ownership of all business-owned assets. A business owner often generates a larger retirement fund from asset sales.  

Business owners often hold patents for product designs. If the owner wants to maintain ownership, the patent isn’t included in the business sale. Ownership of the patent allows them to reproduce these designs and generate profits. Patents that are in the business name present some issues in these pursuits. The owner will have to transfer ownership of a patent into their own name first.

3. Calculate How Much You Need in Retirement and Set Realistic Goals

Planning for retirement starts with an advanced understanding of the person’s lifestyle. The lifestyle a person has as a business owner is not the same as it could become during retirement. They won’t have incoming profits from sales. The money they have in their retirement funds and Social Security is all they have.  

Realistic goals in retirement help business owners plan better. If they want to travel, money is needed for these excursions. However, they also need money for living expenses. If the business owner pays off their mortgage or downsizes, more goals are achievable.

4. Create an Iron-Clad Will

A will is a must for all business owners, and the document is often used to keep the family informed. Families need to know what their loved one wants for their business. They’ll know if the owner wants to sell the company or pass the torch to someone else.  

Business owners create wills to distribute all business-related assets. Clauses in the will explain debt settlement and reduce probate-related issues. A large business estate could spend years in probate without a careful plan. No one knows when they’ll die, and it’s best to be prepared, especially if you own a business.

Retiring business owners need a strategic plan. Instead of just leaving a job, they have to decide what to do with their business. They could sell it or shut it down completely. But, before the owner reaches retirement, they need their ducks in a row. A careful plan and exit strategy help them sell the business and collect proceeds.

Asset and investment assessments guide them on what to do next. Setting up realistic goals for retirement stops them from making poor choices. A well-documented will directs their family if they die before retirement. Review your options with a business seller and create your retirement plans.  

Christopher Stern

Christopher Stern is a Washington-based reporter. Chris spent many years covering tech policy as a business reporter for renowned publications. He has extensive experience covering Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Trade Commissions. He is a graduate of Middlebury College. Email:[email protected]

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