Category: Exit Planning

Qualified Income Trust to Help Pay for Nursing Home Care

exitadvisors February 8th, 2012 Exit Planning, General

Florida is an “Income Cap State” with regard to eligibility for Medicaid benefits to pay for nursing home care. That means that if the nursing home resident’s income exceeds the income cap”, he or she will not be able to qualify for Medicaid benefits to pay for their nursing home care, unless a “Qualified Income Trust” is implemented.  [A “qualified income trust” is often referred to as a “QIT”, a “QIT Trust”, or a “Miller Trust”.]

For 2012,

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The Advantages of a Well-Conceived Buy-Sell Agreement

exitadvisors November 3rd, 2011 Employee Incentive Planning, Exit Planning, General

In the previous blog, we made a strong case for creating a buy-sell agreement for co-owned businesses.  To summarize, if owners agree in advance of any transfer event about how to appraise business value, and about the terms of payment, they can avoid the heated and often damaging negotiations that can occur when one owner leaves the company.

We continue making our case by outlining several other advantages of a (well-drafted and recently-reviewed) buy-sell agreement.

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Preparing For Your Exit: Planning For Your Inevitable Exit

exitadvisors November 3rd, 2011 Exit Planning, General, Value Drivers

With over half of today’s 9.5 million owners of established businesses reaching the retirement age of 50 years old or older it is likely  that many of you will be ready to leave your business within the next decade or so1. What have you done to plan for that day?

What are you waiting for? How could planning for the biggest financial event of your life not be worth your time and effort?

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Which Comes First? Estate Planning or Exit Planning?

exitadvisors October 5th, 2011 Exit Planning, General, Value Drivers

Well…

A successful business Exit Plan  achieves three important owner goals:

  1. Financial  Security. (The business sale or transfer provides the amount of income the owner, and owner’s family, needs after the owner’s exit.)
  2. The  Right Person. The owner chooses his or her successor (children, key employees, co-owners or a third party).
  3. Income  Tax Minimization maximizes the amount of cash in the departing owner’s pocket.
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Succession Planning vs. Exit Planning

exitadvisors September 13th, 2011 Exit Planning, General, Value Drivers

With the recent buzz about Baby Boomer business owners preparing to leave their companies within the next few years, there can be confusion about the different terminology used for this planning concept. For instance, many people believe that succession planning and Exit Planning are one within the same and can be used interchangeably when talking about owners who are in the process of leaving their businesses. However, this misconception can end up leaving you unprepared for one of the biggest financial events of your life.

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Should I Sell My Business Now? Why Owners Choose Not to Sell

exitadvisors September 13th, 2011 Employee Incentive Planning, Exit Planning, General, Value Drivers

If you simply are not emotionally ready to sell, if there is still fire in your belly — enough fire to fuel your continued investment in the company — or if you ultimately want to leave the business to family members or employees, then you may not be in a position to sell your business — yet. If you and the business are ready to sell, but you still hesitate, let’s look at typical reasons for that hesitation and what you may be able to do about it.

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Why You Need To Know The Value Of Your Business

exitadvisors June 24th, 2011 Employee Incentive Planning, Exit Planning, General, Value Drivers

Why You Need To Know The Value Of Your Business Today Even Though Your Exit Is Years Away

In today’s economy, no one wants to spend money on something they don’t need today. So why do you need an estimate of your company’s value when you don’t expect to leave for several or many years?

You don’t — if you fall into one of two groups:

  • Owners who are sure that their business exits are more than 10 years away.
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First Things First: Prioritize Your Objectives

exitadvisors May 31st, 2011 Employee Incentive Planning, Exit Planning, Value Drivers

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.” — Yogi Berra

It is not always easy to interpret Yogi. In this case, perhaps he is advising you to figure out just where you are headed in your business. As you near the time when you will leave behind the daily worries and stresses of business ownership, have you defined your successful exit?

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Why Exit Planning?

exitadvisors May 24th, 2011 Exit Planning, General, Value Drivers

Are you like many business owners?

A majority of closely held and family owned businesses will change hands within the next five years; but many Business Owners may not have taken active steps to transition out of ownership.
Again, if you are like many of our readers, the reasons for failing to plan may be:

  • You may have simply been too busy working in your business to be working on it — at least until now.
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The Foundation of a Successful Partnership

exitadvisors May 20th, 2011 Exit Planning, General

Many of our coaching clients are in business with partners. They are husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, people who’ve been best friends since nursery school or simply associates who went into business because they happened to have their entrepreneurial seizure together.

In my coaching experience, a successful partnership boils down to two things: communication and structure. You must practice regular, open, non-assumptive, listening-based communication in order to have a foundation of respect and collaboration.

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