So When Are YOU Going To Make It Happen?

I recently spoke to a group of Fairfield County business owners. Average age was between 45 and 55. The room had several lawyers, including an estate lawyer, several financial planners, a couple of accountants and even a business valuation expert.

I asked for a simple show of hands to the following question:

How many business owners have a written retirement plan, where you know how much you are going to need, by a certain date and you know what you are going to do with your business and your financial resources to get there?

That’s got to be a relatively simple question, right? Especially with for people who are in the business of guiding others toward retirement, right?

Unbelievably, I was wrong!

Not one hand in the entire room went up. So I tried it a different way.

I asked how many people thought that they’d be in business for another 20 years (i.e. between 65 and 75)?

That got at least a two dozen hands up. I asked how many people thought they’d be in business for the next 30 years (75-85) and that got another dozen hands up.

So I had to ask:

How many people thought they would NEVER BE ABLE TO FULLY RETIRE.

Pretty much every hand in the room went up.

That’s really shocking isn’t it?

In an entire room of business owners, not one person thought that they would actually realize full retirement.

How is that possible?

I can tell you exactly what year I plan to retire, how much I will need for that retirement and how I plan to get it. My wife and I sat down and wrote it all out and then went through it with a financial planner, an estate lawyer and our accountant. Sure, there’s no doubt in our minds that some of the dates and amounts – certainly the specific investments – are likely to change a bit. But don’t you have to at least start somewhere?

If you heard that someone was on a boat with their family, without a compass, or a map and no idea of where they were headed, would you think that person was taking some big risks? Why is not having a retirement plan any different?

If you don’t start planning today – I mean a written plan and not some notions in your head – that includes what you are going to do with your business to achieve your financial goals for retirement, then when are you going to do it?

So when are you going to have that conversation? Twenty years from now? Thirty years from now?

Remember when you were 25? How old are you today? How fast was that?

Don’t wait to plan for your retirement, it’s going to happen faster than you think.

And just think of the consequences of not planning for retirement, for you and your family.

Need help with your business succession plan?  We can help you get started.  Click on the link above and make sure the business you built continues to thrive long after you’ve left the helm.