Video Block
Double-click here to add a video by URL or embed code. Learn more

Individuals and Families with Complex Estates (Page 2)

Business Ownership Planning Topics

Intro copy goes here

Buy-Sell Agreements

A buy-sell agreement is an agreement between partners or other shareholders that outlines a plan for your business in case one of the owners passes away or becomes incapacitated. The main benefit of a buy-sell agreement is to establish a sales price for the business (or your share) and lay out things like who should buy your share and who will control the company, simplifying things for your heirs. This useful planning tool should be discussed with an attorney.

young happy family with child and tablet planning careers

Key Man Insurance

Key Man insurance can help provide the funds necessary for partners to buy the business from heirs. It can also provide the funds to properly shut down the company, give severance to employees, and pay off debts. Additionally, it can provide funds to quickly hire someone to replace you so the business can continue. The business purchases the policy on your life, makes the payments, and then receives the funds if you pass away. If you don’t have key man insurance, consider discussing the benefits with your attorney, financial advisor, or insurance agent.

Succession Planning for Family-Run Businesses

When developing the right succession plan for family-run businesses, there are many variables to consider and possible sources of conflict. Should only the heirs involved in the business receive a share, or should those involved receive larger shares? Should you have key man insurance so the heirs operating the business can buy out the heirs who are not involved? Remember, people are more important than dollars, and it’s essential to develop a plan that supports family harmony. Prayerfully consider your options when planning for business succession.

Next Step: Charitable Giving and Tax-Wise Planning Topics

Click the button to learn about charitable and tax planning.

  • "You should have two financial goals in life: to make a little money first, and then to make a little money last."

    Unknown

  • "If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free; if our wealth commands us, we are poor, indeed. We are bought by the enemy with the treasure in our own coffers."

    Edmund Burke

  • "Every man ought to have money on his mind. No man ought to have money on his heart."

    Anonymous

  • "How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver."

    Proverbs 16:16

  • "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surly to poverty."

    Proverbs 21:5

  • "Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth."

    Ecclesiastes 11:2

  • "Almost any man knows how to earn money, but not one in a million knows how to spend it."

    Henry David Thoreau

  • "We are not to jude thrift soley by the test of saving or spending. If one spends what he should prudently save, that certainly is to be deplored. But if one saves what he should prudently spend, that is not necessarily to be commended. A wise balance between the two is the desired end."

    Owen D. Young

  • "There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can't do any business from there."

    Colonel Sanders

  • "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner has stored up for the righteous."

    Proverbs 13:22

  • "Planning one's finances must take place under the sovereignty of God, recognizing His omnipotence, wisdom, purposes, and plans."

    Ron Blue

  • "If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of his life."

    Billy Graham

  • "God can have our money and not have our hearts, but He cannot have our hearts without having our money."

    R. Kent Hughes

  • "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."

    I Timothy 6:18

  • "Ultimately, financial planning is the predetermined use of financial resources in order to accomplish certain goals and objectives. The difference in financial planning between the Christian and the non-Christian is the belief as to whom the financial resources belong and the source of the goals and objectives."

    Ron Blue

  • "…every spending decision is a spiritual decision"

    Ron Blue

  • "Stewardship is the use of God-given resources for the accomplishment of God-given goals."

    Ron Blue

  • "A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart."

    Jonathan Swift

  • "Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can."

    John Wesley

  • "A man's treatment of money is the most decisive test of his character - how he makes it and how he spends it."

    Moffat

  • "Financial planning is allocating limited financial resources among unlimited alternatives."

    Ron Blue