Business Succession Options

A succession plan for your business is one of the most important safeguards you can use to ensure the company’s future success. Approximately one-third of family businesses that transfer to the next generation result in success, and only 12 percent make it to the third generation. Choosing tomorrow’s leaders and formulating a plan for your retirement, death, divorce or even disability are tasks that should be done early and tweaked often. The transfer of power and wealth can provide a smooth transition or can be the demise of a company, depending on how future leaders are chosen and groomed, and how tax and estate planning implications are handled. There are various business succession options available to the owners of privately held businesses. These include:
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Estate Planning After a Divorce

During a divorce, the immediate problems of property division and child custody overshadow any long-term planning. Trying to figure out which documents need to change and which need to be thrown out is time-consuming, yet essential to keeping your future secure.

The legal end of a marriage often sparks disagreements over power of attorney or property distribution. Many people assume that legal powers granted to a spouse end at the start of a divorce; however, they actually last until...

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Charitable Trusts and Annuities

Charitable Trusts and Annuities
Discover how to maximize your giving by using charitable giving methods that allow you to grow your donation through investment.

Contributing part of your estate to charity may be something that you and your family strongly believe in, whether or not you receive any benefit from it. Although generosity is the driving force behind philanthropy, there are also many benefits that a donor can reap from making charitable contributions. Philanthropy is an important aspect of generational wealth transfer

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Best Practices of
Generational Wealth Transfer

There are many facets to consider when planning your family’s wealth transfer. These 10 best practices will help you stay focused on how to execute the most efficient transfer possible.

Think of monetary wealth as part of a larger picture. Although monetary wealth is important for your family’s security, it’s important to consider monetary assets as part of a larger family legacy. A successful transfer of wealth should also include family values, stories and traditions. Wealth transfer means not only uniting your family behind your...

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PARENTS, ALZHEIMER’S & MONEY

Easing into a difficult conversation. Every eighth American aged 65 and older has Alzheimer’s disease, and 43% of Americans aged 85 and older have it, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Consider those percentages in light of the Social Security Administration’s estimate that about 25% of today’s 65-year-olds will live past age 90. These shocking statistics have serious implications for family wealth.1,2 Your choices. What are your options when it comes to helping a parent...
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Teaching Your Heirs to Value Your Wealth

Values can help determine goals & a clear purpose.

Some millionaires are reluctant to talk to their kids about family wealth. Perhaps they are afraid what their heirs may do with it.

It can be awkward to talk about such matters, but these parents likely postponed discussing this topic for another reason: they wanted their kids to grow up with a strong work ethic instead of a “wealth ethic.”

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Leaving a Legacy Plan

We will all leave this world sometime. Why leave unanswered questions with those we love?

We all want to live a significant, successful life. Yet how many of us realize that our important, positive contributions can last long after we are gone?

Two things are certain: death and taxes. Some of us grasp that reality early, so we create wills, living trusts and estate plans. Others deny this reality and leave their heirs with perplexing questions, added...

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