Take bold steps to advance your business

BY ROB MONTGOMERY

As a business owner, you face a great deal of financial decisions. In addition to taxes, retirement and estate planning, you must also worr y about providing retirement benefits to your fir m ’ s employees, retaining your ke y p eople or preparing for their loss, and preparing for the day you will hand over the reins to someone else

This sheer number of decisions and their complexity can paralyze a business owner. However, ignoring these issues won’t make them go away You need answers to questions that are critical in the decisionmaking process.

Have you saved enough to maintain your lifestyle and become independent of the business?

People think preparing for retirement involves saving as much money as possible and investing it wisely by diversifying But in addition to diversifying investments, smart retirement savers should also consider how taxes will affect their retirement dollars. There are a number of ways to save for retirement and withdraw income once retirement arrives It’s important to consider the contribution, accumulation and distribution tax characteristics of these options.

Have you created programs to recruit, reward and retain key employees?

Key employees make an important contribution to your company ’ s profitability It is in your best interest to recognize their contribution Selective executive compensation benefits reward those employees whose achievements are most responsible for the business’s success and allow key employees to share in the accomplishments of the business

If a ke y employee dies, w il l your business suffer financial ly?

Key employee life insurance is owned by a company on the life of one of its important employees. The death of one of your key employees could cause serious problems to your company, such as lost sales, lower earnings and added costs for hiring and training a replacement. Key employee life insurance provides a death benefit that helps you replace these costs and operate smoothly after losing a key employee.

Have you identified steps to transfer the business to others at a fair price?

Having a business succession strategy in place is a key to the success and survival of your company Strategies such as buy-sell arrangements can facilitate the transfer of a business interest upon a certain event (death, disability or retirement).

Can you successfully transfer the assets you’ve worked a lifetime to accumulate?

Estate or income taxes and other costs can erode the assets you ’ ve spent a lifetime accumulating A life insurance solution can help protect those assets by providing a tax-free death benefit to help offset these costs and provide a legacy to your beneficiaries. It also plays an important role in many estate planning strategies

Creating a Roadmap

You will want to create a roadmap to guide you through the various financial decisions you face. This roadmap starts with your current state of affairs and ends when you exit the business (either during life or at death). In order to properly implement strategies, you will want to work with a financial advisor who is experienced in developing strategies for business, can help you assess your current business life stage and develop your roadmap to business success.

Life insurance products contain fees, such as mortality and expense charges, and may contain restrictions, such as surrender periods. Policy loan and withdrawals may create an adverse tax result in the event of a lapse or policy surrender, and will reduce both the cash value and death benefit Please keep in mind that the primary reason to purchase life insurance is for the death benefit it provides PB

Rob Montgomery President, Securian Financial Advisors of North Dakota rob montgomery@securiannd com