Organizing all parts of your financial life
Owning a business is extremely gratifying, but it can also be all-consuming. Many business owners focus so much on their business that they neglect proper planning for their own future. Learn how Oliver Wealth can help you organize all parts of your financial life and get your money working for you.
Building a Solid Foundation
Meet Barbara. Barbara and her sister are founders of a fast-growing natural cosmetics company. While they have consultants and advisors for their business, Barbara has never focused on her own finances. As a result, she’s not sure she’s doing everything she needs to for her future.
For many years Barbara lived on a very modest draw while she and her sister plowed earnings back into the business. But for the past two years, she’s finally been able to take some meaningful distributions. Now, she’s a bit shellshocked at her tax liability and was looking to find a way to shelter more of her income through a retirement plan.
When she first met with Oliver Wealth, her advisor worked with her upfront to create a comprehensive financial plan. As her business grows, this allows Barbara to also grow her own net worth and diversify her interests. The plan can help her feel more organized which is important in her busy life. Over time, her OWM advisor helped her optimize these areas of her personal financial life:
- To help reduce her taxes and help her build for the future, her advisor worked with her to set up a retirement plan and a health savings account.
- They reviewed her investments. Prior to starting her company, Barbara was a software developer, so it was no surprise her investments were primarily tech. While that takes advantage of her expertise, her advisor explained that concentration in one industry could backfire, so they decided to diversify her holdings.
- Now that Barbara’s business has grown, it is important for her to start sheltering her personal assets when possible. Her advisor helped her adjust her insurance to add more personal liability coverage, and also helped create a strategy for shielding some of her assets in case of business litigation.
- They also worked together to discuss an exit plan should Barbara or her sister wants to leave the business and cash out in the future.
- Now they meet quarterly, either in person or by phone and review Barbara’s entire financial status. They discuss the market and changes are made to help ensure their investments stay in line with her risk.
Planning Your Exit
Meet Brad. Brad is one of three owners of a commercial construction company. The firm has been very successful, and Brad and his partner have had some disagreements. Brad thought it was a good time to get his own personal financial house in order, in case there’s any change on the horizon with his two partners.
Brad has built up considerable assets over the years. He owns a commercial building as well as two homes in addition to his primary residence. He’s divorced with two children he’s supporting through college, along with alimony payments. Brad uses a broker to manage his investments, but he has been frustrated when this broker shows no interest in helping with tax and estate planning. Brad feels like he needs a lot more attention and advice at this point in his life.
When Brad first met with Oliver Wealth, he was looking for all the other things he wasn’t getting from his broker: asset protection, tax strategy, financial planning. At this point in his life, he was more concerned with keeping what he had than taking a lot of risks. He was concerned about the stress among him and his business partners and wanted to make sure he was on the solid ground apart from them.
Over time, Brad’s OWM advisor helped him address these areas of his financial life:
- First, they prepared a comprehensive financial plan that helped Brad map out his future goals. This included creating income distribution strategies should he opt to sell his interest in his business today, or in 5 or 10 years.
- Due to the recent tax law changes, they looked at tax strategy and helped identify ways Brad can reduce his tax liability.
- They talked through some potential ways for him to deal with his business partners. They identified a strategy for him to buy out his two partners if it got down to that.
- Asset preservation and estate planning were critical, so they worked on a strategy to achieve both goals. Once a plan was devised, they worked with Brad’s attorney over the next months to ensure smooth implementation.
- Brad’s investments were quite heavy in domestic equities, so he and his OWM advisor worked together to better diversify his holdings.
- Recently, Brad wanted to talk about retiring and negotiating a buyout with his two partners. His advisor then took the proposed buyout and was able to plan a tax-efficient distribution strategy so that Brad could enjoy a solid income in retirement.
- Now they meet quarterly, either in person or by phone and review Brad’s financial status, so he can feel organized and in control.
The person and personal story depicted are fictitious but the scenarios summarize financial situations and considerations that clients may face.
