If selling your business is any part of your retirement plan, Mr. Gerber said, it is essential to know what your business is worth. And it is important to start tracking its value long before you plan to sell.
As a business owner, your business and your life are pretty hard to separate. The odds are that your assets are solely bound up in the company, and you might even plan to fund your retirement by selling the business. Not so fast! Is your business even sellable?
This was the advice given in a recent New York Times article titled “Sell a Business to Cover Retirement? Don’t Count on It.”
When it comes to your business, you might be OK with the idea that it is empowering your financial life (or is it your life that is empowering the business itself?). Regardless, there will come a time when you and the business must part. This will be one of the most important events in your life and in the life of your business. Question: will this even be planned or just happen?
If the business is your greatest asset, you are just going to sell it and live comfortably in retirement, right? Perhaps. What if it is not worth as much in the market as it is in your mind?
If the business is your principal retirement asset, then knowing its value and preparing it for the transition is of utmost importance. This transaction will determine your future well-being and perhaps the future well-being of your entire family for a long time. Accordingly, this transition will take structuring and forethought.
Will your business be your retirement? If yes, then it is never too early to structure the transaction.
Reference: The New York Times (July 24, 2013) “Sell a Business to Cover Retirement? Don’t Count on It”
For more information on retirement planning please visit my estate planning website.
