Here’s an interesting juxtaposition: According to the 2022 MassMutual Business Owner Perspectives Study, the top goal for business owners upon exiting their business is to maintain their current standard of living in retirement; yet, transitioning ownership when the business owner is ready to retire is ranked last in terms of importance and priority.

What might be the explanation for this? It could be because:

— Nearly half of the business owners we surveyed either plan to work in their business beyond 10 years from now or they have no idea when they plan to retire.

— Two-thirds are waiting for the right buyer to come along.

— Most say it will be an almost even split between funding retirement with both the business and the assets outside the business.

Businesses go through several stages. When they reach the growth stage, they may require additional financing above and beyond what the owner has saved or what friends and family can offer. These improvements may include increasing inventory, retooling existing or purchasing new equipment, expanding the building, or developing a new market.

In fact, a recent Forbes Advisor survey sought to identify how business owners used funds from their business loans. The most common use of the funds was for business expansion, with 42 percent selecting this option. Equipment purchases came in second, cited by 29 percent of respondents, followed closely by marketing and advertising, business franchising, and commercial real estate purchases/remodeling.

Imagine if a key employee were to become seriously sick or disabled. Maybe it’s your top salesperson or an employee who has been with you since the beginning. In addition to the potential impact to your business, the financial impact to that employee’s family and loved ones could be devastating. In a scenario like this, you might choose to continue paying that employee’s salary while they recover.

However, doing so is not quite as simple as you may think. The IRS will not consider the salary you pay while your employee is ill or injured to be a “wage,” since they are not actually working. This means you can’t deduct the wages from your company’s taxes or claim them as a business expense.

As a business owner, you know what it means to be the boss, from managing employees, to winning new business, to paying the bills. But these aren’t the only things you’re in charge of. You’re also the boss when it comes to your personal financial plans for retirement. And if eventually selling your business (or your shares, if the business if jointly owned) is part of your retirement plan, you’ll need a good handle on what your business is worth at any given time.

Whenever I talk about the importance of properly funding buy-sell agreements and succession plans for businesses, I always think back to the “rental car” episode of Seinfeld.

Business owners and their advisors are good at putting resources toward drafting agreements, but it’s the funding of those agreements that is the most important part. And that’s often where the process breaks down.

It may be hard to imagine right now, but when you think about it, odds are that the business you’ve worked so hard to create will be owned by someone else in the future.

Eventually, you will either give up the helm voluntarily before or when you retire, or involuntarily as the result of an unexpected event.

A Section 162 executive bonus plan is a way to attract, reward, and retain key employees using life insurance.

Knowing the value of your business is always important, but changing economic and business factors make having a current valuation even more vital.

As a business matures, it may need more leaders than followers.

If you’re a business owner and you are thinking about retirement, then you need to start thinking about succession planning. It’s critical to the best interests of your family and your finances. It’s also critical to the success of your successor

Start spreading the news: millions of small businesses and their workers now have a new opportunity for a more secure retirement.

Congress has made retirement savings history with passage of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act as part of the government appropriations bill for fiscal 2020. President Donald Trump signed the bill on Dec. 20, 2019, clearing the way for the most impactful retirement legislation in decades.

Passage of the SECURE Act provides millions of small businesses several advantages:

• The ability to band together to offer retirement plans (PEP 401k Plans)

• Increased lifetime income offerings

• New enrollment and tax changes to boost worker savings