Retirement planning

Estate planning is commonly thought of as something that individuals prepare for. However, estate planning is used to distribute a person’s property, and often one piece of that property is a business. Businesses need to have a clear path to beneficiary distribution just like a house or a car. If they don’t have one, the value of the business could be lost to your family.

What are buy/sell agreements? A business owner makes a deal with his partners or with another firm for his share in the business to be bought out in the event of his death.

It’s not uncommon for someone with retirement planning questions to realize they also need to prepare for estate planning and vice versa. Estate planning attorneys and financial planners routinely work together, and it’s not unheard of for an attorney to hold CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation. Retirement planning tends to be a lifelong endeavor while estate planning happens only on occasion, usually when someone has an event in his or her life which makes them realize they need to prepare to manage their affairs after they pass on.

Assets that are for retirement and for death are treated very differently by the government. Inheriting a 401k retirement can result in a heavy tax burden if you are not the spouse of the deceased.