Posts Tagged ‘Business Planning’

Robert was recently featured on Fit Small Business, offering expert advice on successfully setting the rules for a fair office lottery pool. Read the full article here: 21 Innovative Ideas for Fun Office Pools

To retain key employees, make their jobs too good to leave. Arrange “golden handcuffs” agreements with key managers to reward loyalty and promote retention. A golden handcuffs strategy can make a management position so attractive that it would be financially irresponsible to walk away. The classic golden handcuffs arrangement is a “top hat” program –…

Business owners are builders. They spend their lives building firms to provide goods and services to their clients, and those firms provide them with a living. But nothing can tear down that lifetime of work faster than the death of a business owner, or the death of a business partner. Often, much of the value…

Contrary to popular belief, classic pension plans have not disappeared. Corporations have mostly jettisoned them, but highly profitable small businesses are giving them a second look. Why are small business owners deciding to adopt old-school, employer-funded retirement plans? The tax breaks attached to a defined benefit plan may be substantial. In fact, if these plans…

Do you want a simple retirement plan? A plan you can implement easily as an independent contractor or small business owner, without a lot of paperwork? A SIMPLE IRA may be the answer. A SIMPLE IRA plan gives you a tax break, while giving you and your employees a way to build retirement savings. True…

Who are the people most crucial to your business? Have you taken steps to insure them? At every company, there are certain people whose absence would cause day-to-day operations to grind to a halt. If they die or become disabled, the future of the company may be jeopardized. Key person insurance is designed to help…

Discover a pair of underappreciated exit planning vehicles. Charitable remainder unit trusts (CRUTs) and charitable remainder annuity trusts (CRATs) are commonly seen as estate planning tools. What frequently goes unseen is their value in exit planning for business owners. Does it look like you will sell your company to a third party? Do your “second…

If you spend two years or less at a series of jobs, is that a problem? Shouldn’t your resume signal loyalty instead of transience? Well, maybe it isn’t a problem. Maybe you are doing yourself a financial favor instead, especially in this decade. Maybe the conventional wisdom about getting ahead is flawed. The era of…

Have you created a company that someone will want to buy? Your children won’t necessarily want to take over your business, so an exit strategy is essential to getting the outcome you want. You must prepare your firm for the transition – and you must be prepared as well. When should the planning begin? Think…

Some businesses start small and stay small, by design. You may own such a business. Perhaps things begin and end with you, or maybe you employ one other person – your spouse. If this is the case, you should know about Section 105 plans. Being self-employed, you already know that you can deduct 100% of…