Planning For Retirement When You Own A Rural Business

Follow These Tips To Make Your Path To Retirement Easier!

If you’re happy at what you do and or prepared to do it indefinitely, then planning for retirement is a good exit strategy to have in place.

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Hopefully, you’ll be able to run your business for a long time.

Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to have a retirement plan in place.

That will give you options if you need or want some downtime, even if only temporarily.

With that in mind, here are some tips to help.

Review Your Business Structure

If you’re running a business from home, there’s a good chance you’re a straightforward sole proprietor.

That basically means that you are your business.

This keeps life simple but it also means that you cannot sell your business because you cannot separate it from yourself.  

If, however, you change status to a single-member LLC, you will have the option to change its ownership.

As a bonus, you’ll also get protection from being held personally liable for any claims against your business.

This could be very reassuring if you’re building up assets and income to see you through (potential) retirement.

You might want to take this exercise as an opportunity to see if a sole proprietorship is still the best structure for your business.

For example, if you want to start bringing other people on board to lay the ground for your retirement, an LLP or an S corporation might be a better option.

Make Sure You Have Ample Insurance Coverage

Having ample insurance cover is highly recommended at any time of life.

It’s particularly important as you head towards retirement.

Essentially, you want to avoid having life’s curveballs derail your plans to move on from your business.

In addition to protecting your assets (personal and business), you need to think about the important people in your life.

This would typically be your family and possibly friends and pets.

If, however, you have employees, then you need to think about them too.

For example, you might want to take out keyman insurance to protect your business if anything happens to them. 

Document Everything Relevant

If you’ve been running your business for a while, you’ve probably created a system that works for you.

Your system may, however, not be immediately obvious to someone else.

In fact, it may be obvious to you if you come back to it after a break, especially not an extended one.

Documenting your business processes can make your business more attractive to a buyer.

It may therefore help you to get a better price if you decide to sell it.

If your plan is to pass on your business, for example to a child, it’ll be much easier to make a smooth transition.

Likewise, if you decide to keep your business going but do less work yourself, it’ll be easier to bring other people on board to help.

Even if you plan to wind down your business, so you can retire completely, it’s helpful to have everything documented.

Your documentation can give you a roadmap for closing down your business smoothly.

This will not only make your path to retirement easier but will also help to prevent you from being disturbed after you have retired.

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