What we mean by business owner planning
Owning a business is a financial life with two ledgers stapled together. One is yours. One is the company's. The pages talk to each other constantly, and almost nobody outside the firm understands how. The accountant sees the company's tax return. The insurance agent sees the policies. The 401(k) provider sees the plan, if there is one. The household financial advisor — if there is one — usually sees none of it.
We sit on the bridge. Cash flow at the company drives savings at home. The retirement plan you offer your employees changes what you can put away yourself. The way you eventually leave the business — sale, transition to a key employee, wind-down, family transfer — determines whether your retirement is funded by a check or by a hope.
None of that fits inside a brokerage statement. It fits inside a conversation that has to happen out loud, with everything on the table, at least once a year.
The whole picture is also why we keep a separate page for the people and businesses we work with — owner planning sits next to executive planning and family planning, and the bridges between them matter.
The questions business owners actually bring us
The questions come in phases, and they almost always arrive in the wrong order. Owners ask the eventual sale question last and the cash flow question first, when in a clean planning sequence it should be reversed. We bring the order back.
- Am I paying myself correctly — salary versus distribution, and what does that do to Social Security and the QBI deduction?
- Should I be funding a SEP-IRA, a Solo 401(k), a SIMPLE, or a real plan with a match for the team?
- What is the business actually worth, and what is the gap between that number and what I need it to be worth on the day I leave?
- If I get hit by a bus next Tuesday, what happens to the company, the payroll, and my family — in that order, in that week?
- How do I take care of the people who built this with me without giving away the upside I am counting on?
Where most advice gets owners wrong
Most financial advice for business owners is built for either a household with a paycheck or a business with a CFO. Owners are neither. The household tools assume a stable W-2 that smooths over the messy years. The business tools assume an internal finance team that does the planning the owner is being asked to do at the kitchen table on Sunday night.
The result is advice that rounds off everything that makes the situation interesting. The owner is told to max out a 401(k) when a properly designed plan could shelter four times as much. The owner is sold a permanent life insurance policy as succession planning when a buy-sell agreement and a term policy would do the job for a fraction of the cost. The owner is told to diversify out of the business when the business is the asset that actually pays the bills.
The job is to slow down, look at both ledgers, and design a plan that respects what the business is for. Sometimes that means sheltering more. Sometimes it means selling sooner. Sometimes it means staying a year longer and spending the year on the things that change the eventual sale price.
The retirement-shelter argument is the cleanest example. A properly designed plan for a profitable owner can move several times the standard contribution limit out of the current year's tax bill — which is why we treat the retirement account self-employed owners most often overlook as the first decision, not the last.
The work we do for business owners
We start with the personal balance sheet and the business balance sheet on the same page. From there, the conversation has four legs.
The first is cash flow — at the company and at the household. Most owners run the business by feel, which works until it doesn't. We map the year on a single page so the owner can see when the lean months show up and what the household has to do to survive them without raiding the line of credit.
The second is retirement plan design. A sole proprietor with no employees and a good year can shelter far more than the standard 401(k) limit through the right plan choice. A practice with a small team has a different answer. We pick the plan that fits the actual business, not the brochure.
The third is risk. Key person, disability, group benefits, umbrella. Most owners are over-insured on the things that don't matter and under-insured on the one that does — their own ability to keep working. We have strong opinions about disability coverage for owners, and we are not paid commissions on any of it.
The fourth is the eventual transition. Sale, succession, wind-down, family transfer — every owner exits the business one way, and the work to make that exit clean takes years.
The cash flow conversation is the one most owners postpone the longest, and it is also the one that shapes everything else. Our page on running the company books on a single readable page walks through how we map the year for owners.
Disability is the risk most owners under-price, because the policies they were sold years ago were written for someone else's job. We have written separately about why long-term disability coverage is the policy owners most often get wrong.
Group benefits are the other lever owners forget they have. The right plan can hold a key employee in place for a decade — see our notes on designing benefits that earn their keep at a small company.
The exit is where the planning either pays off or falls apart. We treat the years before a sale as the years where the sale price is actually built.
Tax is the connective tissue underneath all of it. The salary-versus-distribution question, the QBI deduction, the entity choice, and the timing of capital expenditures all live inside a year-round tax conversation that treats the return as a byproduct.
What working with us looks like
First meeting — your office, after hours
We come to you. The first meeting usually happens at the business after the day winds down, with whatever financials you can lay your hands on. We ask what the business is for, what you want it to do for you, and where the gaps are. By the end of the hour we have enough to know whether we can help, and you have enough to know whether you'd want us to.
Second meeting — the written plan
We come back with a written plan that connects the household and the business on one page. It covers cash flow, the right retirement plan structure, the insurance you actually need, and the first draft of an exit timeline. The plan is yours to keep whether or not you decide to work with us.
A note on fit
When this might not be right for you
Honest disqualification matters. Some of the owners we are not the right fit for:
- Anyone looking for a firm that will sell them a permanent life insurance policy disguised as a succession plan. We do not sell policies of any kind.
- Anyone who wants the planner to also do the bookkeeping. We work with your accountant, but we are not your accountant.
- Anyone hoping for an advisor who will tell them the business is worth what they want it to be worth. We will tell you what the math says.
- Anyone whose plan is to sell the business next quarter and retire on the proceeds. By then most of the planning runway is already gone.
If any of that describes the seat you're in, we'd rather say so on the first call than disappoint you on the third.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a certain revenue or company size to work with a fee-only financial advisor?
No. We work with sole proprietors, two-person partnerships, and crews up to a hundred employees. There is no minimum company size or revenue threshold. The right fee structure depends on the complexity of your situation, and we publish that in writing before you agree to anything.
How is planning for a business owner different from regular financial planning?
A business owner has two balance sheets — personal and company — and they constantly affect each other. The retirement plan, the tax return, the insurance, and the eventual exit all live on both pages at once. Most household-only planners never look at the business. We start with both ledgers on the same page.
What retirement plan should a small business owner use?
It depends on whether you have employees, how variable the income is, and how much you want to shelter. A sole proprietor with a good year often does best in a Solo 401(k) with profit sharing. A small team may fit a SEP-IRA or a SIMPLE. A practice with high earners and a small staff sometimes earns a cash balance plan. We run the math before recommending the plan.
When should I start succession planning for my business?
Sooner than feels necessary. The cleanest exits start ten years out, when there is still time to groom a successor, fix the customer concentration problem, document the systems, and walk the books into shape. Owners who start the year before they want out almost always leave money behind.
Do you sell business insurance or annuities?
No. We are fee-only fiduciaries, which means we accept no commissions on any product. We will tell you when key person, disability, or buy-sell insurance is the right tool, and we will introduce you to independent agents we trust. We are paid nothing for the referral.
Can you work with my CPA and attorney?
Yes — and we expect to. Owner planning works best when the planner, the accountant, and the attorney are coordinated. We handle the introductions, send the working drafts around, and make sure nothing falls between the chairs. If you do not have a CPA or an attorney we trust, we will introduce you.
Where do you meet with business owner clients?
Most of our first meetings with owners happen at the business after hours, where the records are and the day is quiet. We also meet at our Paramus office, at your home, or on a video call when the calendar is tight. In-person service is part of how we work, not a premium upcharge.