Business owners face unique challenges, especially regarding their finances. They have more retirement plan options that could set them up for financial success in the future. Still, they also could pay higher taxes than a non-business owner. They are also prone to reinvesting in their own business, which could be great for growth but often makes it difficult to transition to a new endeavor or retire altogether.

As small business owners ourselves, we enjoy taking on these challenges and helping our clients succeed in their business lives and move on to something else when they’re ready.

In this post, I’d like to share how we helped our client transition from owning her own business to exiting so she could enjoy an early retirement. 

Meet Susan

We met Susan (not her real name) four years ago when she was knee-deep in her work as a doctor, hoping she could plan for an early retirement. While she enjoyed her work, it was pretty draining, and she was looking to spend more time on fun hobbies like traveling and even creating her own documentaries. She was also recently divorced, and because her ex-husband had always handled the finances, navigating her wealth was new territory.

The Goal

Susan wanted to retire within five years, but she also wanted to understand how that was even possible. Before we started working together, she was actually a client of another firm that wasn’t making her an active partner in implementing her retirement plan. Instead, they were more focused on pushing certain products on her without fully explaining why they were necessary or how they fit into her overall retirement plan.

She also wanted help with the myriad of issues surrounding her recent divorce and how to manage these issues for herself and her kids.

The Outcome

When Susan realized her former advisors weren’t equipped to handle her needs and guide her to this new stage of life, she met with and eventually hired us to help her move forward.

One drastic difference is that instead of pushing products, we got to know her and her retirement goals quite intimately. Our aim was to understand when she wanted to retire, what an ideal retirement meant to her, and what was important to her in life and with her finances.

Only after spending ample time devoted to these issues did Susan feel comfortable and confident in listening to us gameplan her retirement. With the necessary trust in place, we were able to build potential solutions to her problems, ensuring that every step of the way, she had confidence in the plan and our recommendations to achieve her goals.

After mapping out her retirement plan and then taking action to implement it over the last four years, we are excited to say that Susan is on track to retire next year at the age of 55. While Susan will be able to retire from her fulfilling but stressful job and transition to a different way of spending her time, our work on her retirement plan will enter a new phase.

Instead of preparing Susan to retire, we will now focus on her ability to maintain a comfortable lifestyle from her hard-earned investments, ensure we maximize every tax-planning opportunity, and review her estate plan to meet her wishes during her life and at her passing.

With open and honest communication about what was important to Susan and our holistic, no-sales-pressure approach to financial planning, we were able to get Susan to her retirement goal in time for her to enjoy her next chapter at a young age. 

Want Help Exiting Your Business and Starting Retirement?

Suppose you’re a business owner who’s experienced business success but is excited about a new stage of life (with less work and more play). In that case, we’d love to see if we can help.

Chris graduated from the University of Maine, where he played hockey on a scholarship, and retired from professional hockey in 2007. In the community, he remains engaged, serving as a youth hockey coach. Chris holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™. Outside the office, he enjoys trying new food and wine, reading, traveling, playing golf and hockey, fat tire biking, and donating to local charities. His passions include being a husband and dad, lake life with the family, watching his son and daughter play sports, and spending time with his wife. To learn more about Chris, connect with him on LinkedIn.