Category: Company Wealth

The Key To Creating Value in Your The Key To Creating Value in Your Company

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, evaluations, Income from your business, Inside Sale, Passive Ownership, Selling Your Business, Strategies of growing business, Valuation, Value drivers, Working On Your Business

In Chapter 4 of my book, “Unlocking Your Business DNA”, I discuss your key group. I discussed the up side  and the downside of having a key group. 

First, the upside is nothing but good stuff.  Having a key person or group is one of the value drivers which add great value to your business, add profits, frees up your time, and allows you to enjoy your business life more.  Also, they can become the future purchaser of your company. 

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The key person or group only becomes bad when the owners don’t pay attention.  They don’t protect themselves from the possibility of being held hostage in the future.  The case study is worth reading as it happens all the time to unsuspecting owners.  

In the case discussed, I pointed out the problems, but also gave some possible solutions where everyone is happy.  

This is a key chapter to read to make sure you don’t make the mistake our client did.  

   If you wish to discuss creating a “Destiny Plan” with me, or discuss general questions about your business’ Key Business and Financial Elements, CLICK  BELOW to arrange a mutually convenient 15 minute discussion.       LET’S DISCUSS “DESTINY PLANNING”  ALSO, if you would like to email me your questions, please do;  tperrone@necgginc.comsubject:  QUESTION 

How The Buy-Sell Agreement Fits Within the Scope of An S Corporation!  

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, evaluations, Funding your Buy and Sell, Income from your business, Inside Sale, Life Insurance Types, Selling Your Business, Tax Efficient, Tax Free Income, Valuation, Working On Your Business

Part 1 

BY Thomas J. Perrone, CLU, CIC 

Normally, a business makes up a substantial portion of the owners’ net worth. Many business owners do not think about what will happen to their business in the event of their death or a life changing event (trigger).  

This article will focus on why a buy and sell is an important document, one of the most important you will need. 

We will also discuss the buy and sell agreement in the context of an S Corporation since S Corporations are extremely popular. 1 

Consequences of not creating a buy-sell Plan.  

  • Stress on the business’ cash flow or credit line having to purchase the decedents owner’s interest  
  • Unqualified and instability with employees running the company 
  • Disagreements and conflict among heirs increasing administration time and costs 
  • Lack of a market for business which may potentially represent a significant value in the estate 
  • Suppressed value much below fair market value to raise cash for estate needs 
  • Termination of the business 
  • Instability amount employees and creditors 
  • Lack of liquidity to pay estate taxes and other administration costs 
  • Stream of income to remaining family members from the business is lost 
  • Valuation disagreements and IRS litigation 
  • Nightmares of not having a Buy and Sell agreement in a S Corporation! Loss of eligibility as a S Corporation resulting in involuntary termination of the S. Corporation status 
  • Most transfers to entities such as partnership, Corporation and most trusts are prohibited transfers 
  • A termination of S Corporation status will cause the Corporation to be taxed as a C Corporation as of the day of termination creating income tax consequences to the shareholders.  
  • Corporation, which is terminated, must wait five years before making a new S Corporation election, resulting in Corporation being taxed on its net profits for five years.  
  • The surviving shareholder could face additional tax burdens on future ongoing Corporation distribution and on those made upon the sale of the Corporation 

Funding the buy and sell agreement is always a challenge to companies, because it comes down to four ways of funding a triggering event 

  1. Borrowing money from the bank 
  1. Using cash flow out of the business 
  1. Life insurance death benefit 
  1. Cash  

When you compare the costs of funding the buy and sell agreement, life insurance will be the least expensive by a long shot, in most cases, especially, based on a death trigger.  

Other triggers, like divorce, sudden removal from the firm, voluntary and non-voluntary removal from the firm, bankruptcy, and disability are triggers where there is not a death benefit being paid, but money is needed. In these cases, a promissory note may be used in conjunction with a term payout, or installment loan payout.  

However, the cash buildup of a life insurance policy could be used as a funding vehicle especially if the policy has been in force for many years.  

In Part 2 we will investigate how the buy and sell agreement fits within the scope of an S Corporation.  

FREE REPORT “Jones Business Planning and Succession Report” ASK FOR REPORT R3 

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Creating Great Personal Wealth With Your Business Income!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, Executive Benefits, Income from your business, Life Insurance Types, Strategies of growing business, Tax Free Income, Working On Your Business

In my planning with many companies over the years, I realize that many business owners are not using the corporate cash flow to create wealth outside of the business. Normally they are using their after-tax dollars to buy financial products to create a benefit for them personally.

Many of the business owners feel they need to put all their current dollars into the business. This is a mistake! The reason this is a mistake is the business equity can get tied up just like a home-equity can. At a time when the business owner needs his business equity the most, is usually at a time when he cannot get it out for one reason or another. Business equity is not very liquid as it is tied up in receivables, loans, inventory, and the like. By putting too much of the business owner’s wealth in the business, they are risking the loss of it in the future, or the very least, the ability for its use for some major cost.

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Owning a business creates opportunities to use the corporate dollars to create personal wealth outside the business. I call these benefits executive compensation. Normally you can arrange executive compensation programs to be highly effective and efficient tax wise. The corporate dollar can do more for you than the owner could do on their own personal dollar. We have many programs where the corporation is taking a deduction and creating wealth for the owner and their family which is positioned outside of the business.

Below is a project we worked on which shows the value of the corporate cash flow. The names of been changed to protect the innocent, but the case history explains how effective using your corporation cash flow to create wealth outside of your company!

The Case Of Joey Bag Of Donuts

This is the case of Joey Bag of Donuts and his pursuit of keeping wealth outside of his business.  You see, over the years working with Joey Bag of Donuts we told him that leaving too much of his wealth in the business can be problematic, especially when the time came that he needed to exit his business.  He heard me tell him many times, that someday he will leave his business by either a death, disability, or retirement_, and taking the wealth with you when you need it the most, can be a problem, if you do not have the right exit strategy. _

There are many reasons wealth gets lost in a business when it is sold.  It can range from bad planning to bad luck, but Joey Bag of Donuts always remembered to keep as much of his personal wealth outside of the business as possible.  Therefore, he purchased his company building and put it in a separate LLC.  Joey Bag of Donuts also believes in putting as much of his income into the company pension plan. Again, this plan is outside of the business.

We also taught him to have his company support whatever it can legally towards his personal lifestyle.  For example, his cars, gas, some entertainment, health insurance, retirement, and other things are paid for through the company.

Joey Bag of Donuts wanted to put more money away for himself and his family’s future, but did not want to use his own funds, so why not have the company support more retirement contributions?

He already had a profit-sharing plan, and he was sharing company contributions with his employees.

We decided that a non-regulated plan was the best way to go, so we developed a plan for only him.  The plan is a combination of two concepts.  We call this the CEEP PLAN (CORPORATE EXECUTIVE EQUITY PLAN).

The plan is a discriminatory plan, so Joey Bag of Donuts can pick himself or anyone else he wants, unlike a profit sharing or 401k plan, which is a regulated plan.

THE PLAN: As you can see, the company made all the contributions, and took the deductions for them.  Joey Bag of Donuts was the sole participant of the plan. His cost was “0” out of pocket and he ends up with almost $800,000 of cash at retirement.  He also could turn the cash into a tax-free income stream.  In this case it was $67,500 tax-free income. The stream of income is worth more than $1,215,000.  Along with that he has a death benefit of $2,300,000 payable to his family tax-free.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Joey Bag of Donuts gets retirement income using corporate funds.  All the contributions can be applied to just his account.  He also has the use of the account before retirement, like a “family bank,” along with the ability to withdraw funds tax-free.[1]  There would be no 10% penalty if withdrawn before 59 ½.

THE RESTRICTED PLAN: The “Restricted Plan” relates to an employee of the company that the owner wants to make a “A key person To Hold onto Forever.”  This is a terrific way of giving someone a benefit with a vesting schedule, so they stay longer.

Summary: If you own a company and are not taking advantage of the CEEP program, you are missing one of the genuinely great executive benefits available to you as a business owner.  The plan is flexible so you can design it to your needs.

OVERVIEW OF THE PLAN (Summary):[i]  Type of Model: CEEP

EMPLOYER

Yearly Premium Payment:  $25,000

Yearly Net Cost:  $17,500

Total Gross Premium to Retirement: $675,000

Total Net. Premiums to Retirement: $472,500

Total Loans:

For Tax Costs: $202,500

For Interest Costs:  $112,003

Net Cost of Loans: $314,503

If Loan Forgiven, Net cost:  $220,152

EMPLOYEE

Annual Average Interests: $4,148.25

Loan Payoff AT Retirement:[2]  $314,503

Net Cost:  0 (all funding came from Ajax Company)

AT RETIREMENT:

Rollout Amount:  $94,350.83

Tax Cost on Forgiveness of loan[3]:  $94,350.83

Net Cost to Mr. Joey Bag Of Donuts

ll :  0 cost out of pocket[ii]

Cash Value in policy after rollout/forgiveness:  $793,4 29

Death Benefit After Rollout: $2,306,317

Tax-Free Retirement Yearly Income: $67,500

Equivalent Pretax Payout Before Taxes:   $96,429

Years of Retirement Income:18

Total Retirement Income:  $1,215,000

All and all, not a bad arrangement.

[1] Fund in excess of the collateralized amount.

[2] Funds are withdrawn from policy tax-free, results are “0” cost to Mr. Joey Bag Of Donuts

[3] Fund come from policy tax-free.

[i]This is only a summary of the illustration attached to this book.  The illustration is a hypothetical model of how the policy would work.

[ii] This is a fully funded Employer plan. There is “0” cost out of pocket for Mr. Joey Bag Of Donuts

For a free repot on creating Wealth Without Taxes, CLICK HERE! REQUEST R2 REPORT
This report will discuss the methods which will allow your business to use its cash flow to create wealth for you outside your business at the most tax effective way of creating wealth. Executive Compensation CEEP planning is more tax effective than a 401k, 403b, or any other pension and retirement plan. 

As a business owner you have the opportunity to create an amazing amount of wealth with little tax cost. Start with the report and find out how you can create your wealth and your financial security for the future. 

Tax Effective Strategies For RETIREMENT PHASE 2

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Company Wealth, Estate Planning, Income from your business, retirement, Tax Efficient, Tax Free Income

In the Phase one report I discussed why only focusing on the accumulation stage of retirement could be a big mistake.  I emphasized the need for tax diversification in retirement to create the largest after-tax spendable dollar to help maintain your lifestyle when you retire.   

I have seen where people have allocated  their investments in categories relating to the type of tax structure the investment has, and then positioning the category to a timing of when to start taking the withdrawals from the category.  Here are the categories:  

Type of Category Contributions Type of Growth Distribution 
Equities After Tax Tax Deferred Growth Taxable 
Taxable Income After Tax Taxable Growth Taxable 
Tax Free Income After Tax Tax Deferred Tax Free 
Tax Qualified Pre Tax Tax Deferred Fully Taxable 

One method of distribution would be to defer the withdrawal from accounts that are tax deferrable, to grow the value for as long as possible.  As you can see in the chart above, most of the accounts are tax deferred.  However equities, if they are individual stock, may be tax deferred when outside a 401k or IRA, only to be taxed when they are sold.  They may have taxable dividends yearly which would be taxable.  Equities could also be personally purchased mutual funds which are taxable, and in many cases are not the type of account where you can control the timing of the tax exposure.   

One strategy would be to use the taxable income plans first to give the other plans the opportunity to grow through tax-deferment.   Or, we have seen where clients pull out their taxable income from the investments and supplement the balance with tax-free income plans from life insurance or the Roth IRA.   

Other Distribution Methods 

One might consider taking the taxable income category first since the income is taxable.  The 2nd category may be the qualified plan money since that is 100% taxable. The 3rd category may be the equities which are taxed less than then category 1, 2, and are taxed on a capital gain basis. The last category would be tax-free because, the assets can grow tax-deferred over a longer period, and then give off a tax-free income, normally when more income is needed (purchase power and time), and all income would be tax-free.   

Sometimes you need to withdraw income from two or more categories for reasons.  For example, let’s say you are now receiving social security, but you are also receiving taxable income from your mutual funds, but you don’t want to create more taxable income which may disqualify you from some potential benefit.  Or by receiving more taxable income, your social security tax liability will jump from 50% to 85%.   

A consideration under that situation would be to withdraw tax-free income to support the needed income without causing an increase in taxes.  Another need may be to qualify for housing benefits like freezing property assessments.  Tax-free income may be the only way to qualify. 

Qualified plans such as 401k, 403b and IRAs, are the most heavily taxed.     Most people deposit their retirement savings into company plans since they are readily available through their employer.  Very rarely are employees educated as to the tax exposure of the account when they retire, and many are surprised at the taxes they have to pay on the withdrawals.  

In my planning, I use quadrants, I call my system, the “Asset Cycle Portfolio” and make the qualified retirement plan and IRAs the main generator of income.   

I suggest to our clients that they  defer the tax- free income plans, but I do let our clients know that the plans are a great place to grab money for the  support of their larger purchases such as cars, second homes, and other items.   

By using the tax-free life insurance plans, or Roth plans, they avoid paying tax today, and can defer the other accounts.  I like the idea of the “family bank”, using the life insurance, as you can withdraw the money tax-free, and then replace the funds.  I find this a great vehicle with great flexibility for life’s changes.   

It is not uncommon for our clients to finance their new cars using tax-free cash value and pay the loan back at an assumed low rate which they set.  By repaying the loan just like they would if it were a bank, they create the ability to reloan in the future the same money.   

For example, I have a client who purchased their high-end vehicle at the end of the lease by loaning his consulting firm the money to buy out the car.  His firm now has to pay him back over five years at 3%.  He will make about $3,000 in interest earnings, plus his company can take the tax-deduction on the interest of the loan paid to him. 

The big picture 

It’s more important to invest in different categories of assets to have the ability to develop a tax wise strategy when you retire, as opposed to a one demension investment strategy.  By doing so, you can take advantage of tax laws, eliminate unnecessary taxes, and create family banks with effective tax leveraging.   

For more informtion on how to use Tax-Free Life Insurance, request my FREE WHITE PAPER, “Wealth Without Taxes”  

The Six Most Costly Financial Mistakes Business Owners Make Costing Them to Owe Huge Taxes!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, Executive Benefits, Income from your business, Key People_Or Group, Life Insurance Types, Passive Ownership, Strategies of growing business, Tax Efficient, Tax Free Income

Many business owners are unaware of the opportunities they have in creating wealth through their business.  Many owners put too much wealth in their business, where it can be tied up or hard to get out.  It also prevents them from accumulating outside retirement funds.

There are several ways to create wealth through your business on a tax-efficient basis which many owners are not aware of.  

I would like to share with you the six mistakes that prevent owners from creating more wealth by utilizing the business cash flow. 

  1. NOT IMPLEMENTING A CEEP: (Corporate Executive Equity Plan) for themselves.  This is one of the most tax effective methods of creating personal wealth using corporate cash flow.  The cost of providing this wealth creating account costs the owner about 30% of the tax cost.  Example: if the company bonused $20,000 to the owner for a personal retirement plan, the tax cost would be $6,000 each year.  However, under a CEEP arrangement, the cost would only be a $60 the first year, and about $1,200 the 20th year. This is one of the most misunderstood concepts in executive compensation by attorneys, insurance professionals and CPA’S.  Consequently, it might be considered under used.  However, the executive compensation specialist understands how the plans work and how it can be of great value for the business owner in shifting income from the company to the personal side of the owner. 
  2. NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE SECTION 412(e)(1): which allows the owner to make a substantial number of tax-deductible contributions into a retirement plan skewed towards the higher paid owner.  Example, the owner aged 50 can deposit up to $213,905 fully tax-deductible.  Great for good cash flow companies.
  3. NOT USING THE “SAFE HARBOR RETIREMENT PLAN”: where a substantial amount of the tax-deductible contributions can be allocated to the higher paid participants.  Also, included in this arrangement is the “Cash Balance Plan”.  These plans create greater tax-deductions for higher paid employees.   
  4. NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF   A RESTRICTED BENEFIT PLANS (RBP): which is a discriminatory and tax-deductible plan.  It can be used to provide valuable benefits to retain key people.  The business owner keeps the forfeitures if the employee leaves before vested. This can lock your key group to your company.  
  5. NOT CREATING A DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN:  This is a flexible, separate, and discretionary retirement benefit that can also become a mechanism for funding the sale of your business in the future and create retirement income. The pot is sweetened when you add a DBO (Death Benefit Only) to the planning. 
  6. NOT CREATING AND NOT FUNDING YOUR BUY AND SELL AGREEMENTS: A disability, long term illness, or death may occur long before the owner planned to exit their business, creating a path to financial disaster not only for the owner, but their family, partners, and employees.  This is one of the most egregious mistakes I see business owners make.  Many times, it goes unnoticed by the advisors.  This is one of the reasons why I am an advocate of check-off lists, “fire drills”, and annual reviews.[i]

Simply Put!  By Utilizing These Common Benefits, Owners Can Maximize Their Fullest Potential Business Value! 

To help you understand some of the ways to utilize your business cash flow to create more wealth for you and your family, I put together this FREE WHITE PAPER, CALLED “A TAX -FREE LIFESTYLE FOR BUSINESS OWNERS”, AND I would like to GIVE this FREE WHITE PAPER TO YOU.  

THIS REPORT will help you understand how you can use your business to take advantage of discriminatory benefits   plans for yourself, family members, and key employees.    The Tax-Free Lifestyle REPORT is strictly for small business owners who want to grow their business while creating more wealth outside of their business.   I designed this white paper to help business owners avoid the COMMON MISTAKES made by other business owners which forced them to work more years, save less retirement, pay more in taxes, and tied up too much wealth in their business, creating more stress, and had no free time for themselves! 

You’ll also discover in the TAX-FREE REPORT:

  • One simple concept allowing you to retire with more wealth or retire years sooner.  (This one simple financial principle is rarely ever talked about on “pop news” financial TV shows or by other so-called “financial planners”. 
  •  2 proven strategies to increase cash flow and reduce expenses if you really want to sleep at night!
  • 3 secret ways to have your business build a tax-free wealth account for your personal and business use!
  • “Your Business DNA” Understanding this key allows you to double your savings and retirement investing without making a single dollar more in income or investing in more capital equipment and labor.
  •  5 value drivers to prepare your business for a sale, even 20 years in advance!
  • How a simple inexpensive benefit plan can keep your key people! 
  • How creating a Deferred Compensation plan can help finance the future sale of your business.
  • How having a benefit plan for you in the future can lower your cost to sell your business?
  • Misleading and incorrect “old wives’ tales” about creating wealth in your business. 
  • Tax saving strategies that 9 out of 10 business owners don’t use and end up paying more taxes
  • Much more…

TO RECEIVE YOUR FREE   NO OBLIGATION WHITE PAPER Called: 

“The Tax-Free Lifestyle for Business Owners”

To request your free white paper 

CLICK SUBMIT:     Wealth Without Taxes Report

Once you submit your email address, you will receive your report immediately! Enjoy!

Now you may be asking…Why would I spend my own money to send you this FREE WHITE PAPER? Think of it as my personal introduction… a way for you to get to know me better.  Nothing more than that! 

Often enough, when business owners learn the information in this guide, they decide they want to know more about what we do, and possibly do business with us so they can have our business owner expertise and in-depth knowledge of how business owners think.  I know, I am one of them. I know what you think because I think about it all the time.  Let’s say 24/7 to be safe! Just as you value the expertise in your business field, I believe working with a financial expert who knows what it is to run a business and knows the business world is critical to your financial health.

That’s it!  Let me send you “The Tax-Free Lifestyle for Business Owners”.   Do with it what you want. Maybe you’ll want to talk to us further, maybe you won’t.   There is no obligation to do so.

Either way, I think you’ll find the information in this report will be immensely valuable to helping deal with the “what if’s, grow your business value, enjoy it more, and create more time for you and your family while creating an almost “stress-free” life with tremendous financial freedom in the future.  Oh yes! NO TAXES EITHER!    Visit www.yourbusinessworth.com  to learn more! 

FOR A 7 MINUTE VIDEO

[i] Paul Hood: “Buy and Sell Agreements- the last will and testament for business owners”.  Paul discusses his check off list, and his “fire drill”.  I am an advocate for these systems to make sure the buy and sell agreement is a perfect of a fit to the entity and owners as possible. 

Pending Tax Changes May Be Around The Corner 2022!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, evaluations, Income from your business, Life Insurance Types, Strategies of growing business, Tax Efficient, Valuation, Working On Your Business

 

I am currently reviewing some of the pending tax proposals being presented. Again, these are proposals and most of them will change before enacted.  

It occurred to me as I was reviewing the details of the tax proposals, how many changes I have seen over my long planning career.  It made me think of  how many times clients (YOU AND ME) had to  update our plans at our cost.  It is amazing the disregard the government has for the U.S. citizen in making this system easier to work with. I can understand why so many citizens put off planning, or just get tired of updating.  Unfortunately, this is the reality of the tax system and the changing of administrations.  

In 2017 we had a major income tax change which in most cases helped many  citizens lower their taxes.   It was easy to understand and it did what it was suppose to do, stimulated the economy along with increasing  public confidence.  

It also gave estate owners a path to plan to preservation their estates. The tax policy was working very well and our government tax coffers where growing.  

Pending Tax Changes- Again These are only proposals!  

The Green Book 2021  

Sr. Van Hollen (Sensible Taxation and Equity Promotion (STEP) and other plan such as the American Families Plan, and the “For the 99.5% Act (Bernie Sauders)”  

Income Tax Changes 

  • Top income tax rates 37%-39.6% effective January 2022; > $509,300 for married, and $452,700 for single 
  • Restrict tax deferral, “like-kind exchanges” (swaps of real estate that avoid current taxation that a sale would tigger  
  • Capital Gains might double-(sale of stock, investment real estate, etc. ) qualified dividend with incomes over $1million taxed at ordinary rates. This could be triggered for gains after April 28, 2021 

Social Security Taxes 

  • To coordinate the net investment income and self employment taxes, so unlike current law, a company could pay the owner a reasonable salary or guananteed payment, the overage became federal taxable profits, but not defined as payroll taxes.   This was assuming that the salary, and withdrawals were reasonable  compensation .  

The proposal is to tax pass-through business income (e.g. S Corps, limited liability companies, partnership) of high income taxpayers will be subject to either the net investment income tax or the social security taxes.   

Audits from the IRS: $80 BILLION increase over 10 years for IRS for audits.  

Estate and gift tax:  

  • Bernie Sanders proposal (For the 99.5% Act) calls for a return to lower estate and gift tax exemptions as well as significant changes to the rules on GRATs and grantor trusts 
  • Most dramatic:  Biden’s plan is to make the transfers of property by Gift, and on assets owned at death (as of January 1, 2022) triggering events for capital gains taxes.  The gain is measured by the date of gift or death fair market value less basis.   
  • Exclusions: transfer at death to a US spouse.  

So there are other potential changes coming down the pike and we’ll have to wait and see.  Here is the bottom line:   

Split Interest Gifts: Grat’s ; watch for developments 

Grantor Trusts:  At Grantor’s death or trust is no longer revocable 

BOTTOM LINE- 

If you are a business owner with wealth in your business and you have not done any planning, it may be a good time to start thinking about a certified appraisal of your business and your holdings.  Also, you might want to start thinking about what your goals would be for passing your estate assets.  It’s to early to tell where the wind will blow and how you will be affected by any change, but it is not too soon to think of what you wish to accomplish in your estate and business planning. 

As I look some of the potential changes, Life Insurance Planning will become more significant in paying for the additional liabilities of passing your estate assets either by gift or death.  

To help you with your planning, I would like to offer to you my newly published Ebook called,”Unlocking Your Business DNA”. In the book I cover strategies I have used with business owners for over 50 years  with powerful strategies to create growth and profits in your business and also create an amazing amount of leisure time. 

To get the book, CLICK AND SUBMIT 
 
OR,  
 
If you with to receive a free business assessment of your business planning, take our ONE MINUTE SCORECARD SURVEY. Literally, it takes one minute to go through. Once submitted I will send you a FREE ASSESSMENT of our findings. We will be able to pin point the strong point and the points that you need to work on to create more business growth and profits.  

CLICK HERE FOR THE ONE-MINUTE SCORECARD  

More to come… stay tuned.  

Treating Your Children Equally Or Fairly!

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, evaluations, Income from your business, Inside Sale, Passive Ownership

Leaving assets Equally or Fairly!

The One Page Issue

The Issue Overview:    

Parents want to leave different property to their two children. Son A is in the family business, while Son B is a teacher. They also want to update their estate plan.  

Break down and fact pattern:  Family owns a business worth approximately $3 million (ballpark guess by accountant, but not a certified appraisal).  The account has suggested that the owner get a certified appraisal.  There is a building worth $800,000 that houses the family business, and residential real estate worth about $1.5 million.  Their home is valued, $500,000, and an investment worth about $600,000.   Their net worth is approximately $6,400,000.[i]

Rents and salary are where the family derives their income.

The rental income profits are being invested back in the real estate to pay down the mortgages which will be paid off in five years.  

Intention of estate owners; Specifically, at the death of the surviving spouse, Son A is to receive the business and the business property.   Son B is to receive the real estate and residence. The investment account balance to be split equally.    

Past Planning:  The parents have done very little estate planning. They have an old, “I love you will” and do not have healthcare directives in place.  

One Page Issues:

Summary of Issues:  

A. Upon dad’s death- the status of mom and her income. 

B. The real estate other than the business building to Son B. 

C. Distribution of business assets to the son A

D. Estate settlement costs and taxes.

ONE PAGE SOLUTION!

One Page Solution (s), things we suggested to consider:

  • Certified evaluation of the business as a watermark of value, for a variety of things.
  • Update wills, possibly a living trust (Qtip/bypass) and Medical Directives
  • Placing real estate in Irrevocable defective grantor trust   with spouse as income beneficiary (Defective Grantor Trust) remove from estate and future value[ii].  
    • Parents are not concerned with making gifts. (See footnotes).
    • Parents are aware of a possible reduction in the exemption credit.
    • There is also the issue of the loss of stepped-up cost basis in the future because of future tax law changes. 
  • At spouse death, Son B can receive the investment property. Son B will receive the commercial building and the business.  
  • If more cash is needed in the estate, the business could fund a life insurance policy on Mom and dad (2nd to die) to absorb taxes and transfer costs.  Using the company to fund the policy via a split dollar or bonus plan. If so, the life insurance would be purchased by an irrevocable trust.  

Overview

These were a a few of the strategies the family could do to improve their situation, although there are many more ways to plan their estate.  Most important, this was the direction the family felt more comfortable after reviewing other possibilities.  Compared to the default estate plan they had; this planning puts them in a much better position to accomplish their goals. 

Bottom Line:  

  • The spouse will have the income needed to stay in her world. 
  • Son A received the company along with the building. 
  • Son B is treated fairly in that he receives the real estate and income from the real estate.
  • It also works well if the mother passed first.  The only exception would depend on the value of the stock which the father owned at his death.  Currently, he owns 100% of the stock.  (Once the business value is known other planning strategies could be implemented to save taxes and accomplish their financial goals as a family.  Things such as using minority stock discounts, recapitalization, estate tax funding with life insurance, gift programs, along with other techniques to accomplish the personal family goals).

Take our free SCOREBOARD ONE MINUTE ASSESSMENT. AFTER YOU TAKE IT, WE WILL SEND YOU A FREE ASSESSMENT REPORT.  IT WILL HELP YOU IDENTIFY WHAT AREAS IN YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH are strong and what areas you need to work in to maximize your full potential business value.  CLICK TO GET

[i] Business needs certified appraisal- current value is an estimate

[ii] We are considering current tax laws; however, we are on the verge of a possible lowering of the exemption credit and repeal of the stepped-up basis

Reasons They Do Not Have A Transition Plan That Will Be Efficient – Part 2

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, evaluations, Selling Your Business, Strategies of growing business, Value drivers, Working On Your Business

Over the years, my experience with many owners I have found a major conflict with owners is the working in their business vs. working on their business. It is extremely hard for many business owners to make changes and spend the necessary time. I have a book called “Unlocking Your Business DNA”, which discusses the personal tragedy of not having the proper planning.  

FOR A FREE EBOOK; REQUEST UNLOCKING YOUR BUSINESS DNA 

I have heard the stories from “I will live a long life”- “I need to work and won’t retire” “No one can do this like I can”   

Four possibilities of leaving your business:  

  1. Death (that includes dropping dead at your desk) 
  1. Disability 
  1. Retirement 
  1. Cannot do it any longer 

By not planning, the owner may find themselves receiving much less for the business, walking away without any value, or just die working at their “bench.” 

Because of this one reason, we developed the two hour a month planning process, called:  THE ONE PAGE PLANNING PROGRAM.   

The Owner AND Their Issues:  What is important for the owner is to have a personal retirement and estate plan to define their future needs. Do they want to stay active in the business even when retired? Will they have enough money for retirement? Will they have estate tax exposure. Do they have the proper estate documents? Do they have someone to sell the business too? How much will they have to sell their business for to net the amount of assets needed to provide their financial security? 

Owner Issues 

  • Financial Security 
  • Wealth Preservation and transferring the business with as little taxes as possible.  

The Family: What is the status of the family relationships in the business? Do any of the family members depend on the business for income?  Do they own stock? Are they in agreement with the proposed succession?  Are their careers involved with the business? 

Key Issues for family  

  • Compensation among family members in the business?  
  • Inheritance among family members?  
  • Management of family business, who is involved?  

The Company. 

  • What are the assets in the business? What is the value of the assets? What is the value of the business?  
  • Has the company been appraised in the last few years? 
  • Is the buy and sell agreement in force-signed and dated?  
  • Does there need to be more formality in the governance of the structure? 
  • Has there been a systematic attempt to enhance business value drivers over the years? 
  • What is the structure to get earnings out on a tax advantage structure?  
  • Who will be the leader of the company, and will there be a change in ownership? 

The Succession Plan 

  • Business Situation and questions when thinking about succession. 
  • How are you getting earnings out of the company on a tax advantaged structure?  
  • Have you considered the leadership and owner issues to be addressed?  
  • Each entity structure has advantages and disadvantages, and each should be looked at carefully when considering your future status as you transition? 

FOR A FREE EBOOK; REQUEST UNLOCKING YOUR BUSINESS DNA 

The Challenges Of Developing A Transition Plan For Small Business Owners- Part 1 of 2!

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Business Growth and Transition, Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Inside Sale, Valuation, Working On Your Business

Many small business owners do not have a plan for the transition of their business. A survey taken a few years ago suggested that only 30% of the small business owners had a transition plan. Out of the 30%, only 50% had a plan in writing. Of those plans, there is no way of telling if they were set up correctly, outdated, or even funded, considering the changing of the business status.  

 Options available for business owners for the transition of their business:  

A structured succession plan would enable the business owner to achieve their personal financial goals as its primary function, which would be to create a satisfactory income, and security for their future. 

A second goal would be to maximize the greatest potential value for the business, which would help the owner with their financial needs in the future, such as retirement.  

Another goal would be the long-term growth and the survival of the business to support family members for the future, key employees, or if the owner wishes to remain attached to the business, as a passive owner.  

One of the key issues is to make sure the business owner has control of the process and has defined the timing of any transition in the future.  

For example, if the owner wants to retire in five years, they must make sure they have implemented proper value drivers to maximize the company value.  Some value drivers take longer than others, such as building the next level management key group. This is the group that may wish to purchase the business at some point or run it for the owner.  

By not implementing this strategy early, the owner may be forced to delay the sale of the business until the strategy is developed, consequently jeopardizing their retirement plans.    

If the business is to be sold outright, there needs to be other quality value drivers working for the business owner to maximize the potential sales price.  

Overall, by not having a succession plan, and awareness of what value drivers need to be implemented, the owner risks not achieving the highest potential value for the business while weakening the ability to time and control their transition from the business.   

 Problems of not having a solid transition plan:  

  • Family equity issues 
  • Income and estate tax exposure 
  • Risk not creating the culture of retaining key persons and family members 
  • Uncertainty for people who have a stake in the company (investors, family members, long-term employee, as an example) 

For small privately help businesses, a succession plan is very personal, and cannot be a template program, as every company is unique, and the owners’ situations are very different. 

The key to a successful transition is having a solid plan which has an orderly process and is tax efficient.   

LEARN THE FOUR WHAT IF QUESTIONS EACH BUSINESS OWNER HAS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM BY REQUESTING THE WHITE PAPER:  CHAOS-THE BIG STORY; REPORT #4.  

10 Questions Every Business Owner Should Know Know!

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Estate Planning, Executive Benefits, Key People_Or Group, Life Insurance Types, Passive Ownership, Selling Your Business

  1. What strategies are you using to make sure you will grow your business to the maximum value it can grow to.  
  1. What are you doing to make sure you have a key group, culture, and a method to keep them with you for the future?  
  1. What makes you think you are taking advantage of all the benefits available to use in your company that would help, you, your company, and your family on a tax-effective basis.  
  1. How will you extract the greatest potential value of your business upon your death, disability, or retirement (the three major reasons you will have to leave your business)?  
  1. What ideas and strategies have your accountants and attorneys given you in the last three years that has made a significant difference in your growth of the business? 
  1. If you died tonight, who would own your business? And are you sure that is true? 
  1. Make makes you sure that your key people will not leave you? And if they do, what makes you think that they will not go to your competitor, start their own business, and/or reveal your business secrets the competition. 
  1. What makes you believe your key people would not steal your employees, and clients, if they decided to set up shop across the street from you? 
  1. When was the last time “all your advisors” sat in the same room for the morning and talked about your goals, and what is the best advice they could give you to create more growth and better business? 
  1. How would your spouse know what all the passwords needed to open your computer accounts, would she know where the key to the front door of your office is, if you died last night?  

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https://www.allclients.com/Form2.aspx?Key=49D7A9612BCD8971E08D1B3293625EBA