“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” -Confucius

Regardless of national events, or where things are at with PPP and EIDL -- as a small business owner, it's important that you take a REGULAR, clear-eyed look at the underlying legal and financial foundations of your business.

As we all pull our tax documentation together, I can't think of a better time.

I started with these last week, and I'm wrapping them up today.

My Small Business Health Quiz (Part 2)

From last week...

#1: Is the value of your business firmly established?
(Buy/Sell Agreements)
#2: Is there an emergency plan?
(Will & Asset Protection Strategy)
#3: What happens next?
(Business Succession Plan, and more)

Now to the next questions...

#4: What are your retirement plans?
Questions to consider:

• Do I know how much income I will actually need at retirement?
• How much control in the business must I maintain to secure my retirement income?
• Have I looked into financing options for key employees to buy me out?
• Do I want to be running my business, full-time, five years from now?
• Do I have contribution protection for my retirement if I were to become disabled?

Too many business owners view their business as their "retirement cash cow" ... but have not made serious plans for how it can BE that cash cow.

#5: Are all of your eggs in one basket?
Questions to consider:

• Do I have reliable investments, other than my business?
• Will my business assets account for less than 25% of my retirement plans?
• In the past year, have I spent more than one hour planning my retirement?

If you haven't diversified your retirement income outside of your business, you could be in trouble.

#6: Is there a REAL tax strategy?
Consider these questions ...

• Am I proactively planning to deal with tax law changes?
• Have I determined my financial goals -- and how taxes will affect them?
• Will I maximize my tax-free earnings in retirement (and before retirement)?
• Do I have an exit plan for my business -- and is it written down?

Again, all of these issues always seem "procrastinate-able" on the front end ... but if you don't have a good answer to more than a couple of the above questions, you might be cruising for a financial bruising.

I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve through these Blog Posts.

BE THE ROAR not the echo®

Warmly,

Janet Behm
Utah Real Estate Accountants
(801) 278-2700