Did you know that only 9% of the population
are predicted to be able to retire comfortably? Another
word for Succession Planning is Retirement Planning. There
is a serious lack of retirement planning in Australia. It
basically asks that difficult and confronting question:
"How am I going to get out of this business?"
Typically there are a number of options:
- Sell to a third party/competitor
- Sell to existing partners
- Hand over to family
- Hand over to staff
- Close down
It is a very stressful process to think
about and most people tend to "put it off". The
main reasons these decisions are deferred are:
- What will I do with myself once I sell
my business?
- I can't get enough for my business when
I sell it … so I'll just keep working
- I don't want anybody to know that I'm
thinking of getting out as it may hurt my business (especially
if my competition or key staff find out)
We help you to resolve these difficult issues
- while you have time to do something positive about them!
If you plan to retire within the next five years you may
have left your succession planning a little too late. However,
a short-term plan is better than no plan at all!
At Sterling Accountants we don't let you
"back yourself into a corner". We are constantly
checking your retirement planning when we review your strategic
plan. We get you thinking about investing (what you can
afford) outside of your business. We talk to you about insurance
to protect what you've got. Your retirement planning shouldn't
centre on what you get for your business when you sell it.
This has the effect of binding you to the sale price of
your business. It makes the sale negotiation process quite
stressful and (at times) adversarial. It may force you to
sell your business (rather than hand it over to your family/partners/staff
etc). That's what succession planning is all about.
This is where the benefits of having an
integrated financial planning and tax/accounting advisor
become evident. You get a coordinated approach from our
combined expertise to produce innovative plans which will
help you create, grow and protect your wealth. Take the
stress out of your retirement planning contact
us today!
