A comprehensive, tax-efficient approach to financial planning for business owners understands the intrinsic link between personal investment strategies and overall business goals. We help savvy business owners prioritize financial diversification beyond the business, tax planning, wealth preservation, succession, and exit planning while maintaining investment control and understanding risk.
At Mercer Advisors, we’ve been working closely with business owners for nearly 40 years to create a unified and integrated financial approach to managing their total financial picture. We prioritize strategies that align their personal and business objectives, preserve their hard-earned wealth, and navigate the challenges unique to business owners for a clear path to financial success.
I have worked with many business owners during my career as a wealth advisor and understand the intrinsic connection between their personal finances and business goals. Creating a comprehensive financial plan for business owners prioritizes alignment of personal finances and business strategies to maximize the value of their wealth.
A Holistic Wealth Management Approach for Business Owners
The simple reality is that for business owners, personal finances are connected to business finances. Successful business owners value the unified and integrated financial plan we can provide with more nearly 40 years of experience. Working hand-in-hand with business owners, we create comprehensive plans to successfully manage their complex personal and business financial affairs.
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Personal financial planning for business owners requires a comprehensive approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of their personal and business strategy and goals. Business owners often find their financial worlds intricately entwined. Because of this, successful financial planning aligns their personal financial goals with business financial strategies to achieve their overarching vision.
Wealth management for business owners follows a similar path as non-business owners. However, the lens through which we look at things, the questions we ask, and the strategies we create are tailored specifically for business owners and their unique needs.
Financial planning
We believe that comprehensive wealth management starts with a solidified financial plan. As with non-business owners, it’s vital to review the plan at least annually and update with any changes to the business owner’s financial vision. Key questions we ask business owners during this part of a wealth management planning process are around liquidity and income. Questions that help us understand a business owner’s vision include:
- How do you manage income from your business?
- What are your short-term cash flow objectives and needs?
- What is your spending plan?
Tax planning and wealth preservation
Effective tax planning strategies and wealth preservation techniques intimately understand personal and business returns when creating a customized tax plan. It’s vital to partner with CPAs who have worked with business owners before, as we have, to preserve wealth through tax and legal planning.
Succession and exit planning
Non-business owners often just contribute to their company’s retirement plan, like a 401(k). For business owners, this is not as simple. Does the business have a tax-advantaged retirement plan? We help business owners structure plan contributions to preserve wealth efficiently. When it comes to retirement planning, what’s unique to business owners is understanding their succession planning and exit strategy. Since a business is often a substantial retirement asset, planning for valuing, selling or transferring the business tax-efficiently is key.
Estate planning
The general documents for estate planning are the same for business owners and non-business owners. Both groups of people often have trusts, powers of attorney, HIPAA authorizations, and a living will, to name a few. However, complete wealth management for business owners has an established plan for what happens if the business owner passes prematurely. It’s important to have an exit or continuation strategy if this situation occurs.
These are some of the important considerations we prioritize when creating a comprehensive financial plan for a business owner. Creating long-term financial security and confidence for business owners requires a strong partnership between owner and wealth advisor. At Mercer Advisors, we have more than 35 years of experience working with business owners to create comprehensive plans and strategies to help them achieve their overall financial goals.
Unified and Integrated Planning for Business Owners
A unified and integrated financial plan for business owners takes care to address the interconnectedness of personal financial planning and overall business goals to create a strategy that’s right for you.
