How clearly do you remember your reason for starting your business?

Your first business plan was probably a labour of love. For most business owners it’s the first time you seriously sat down and considered …

“why am I in business?”,

“how much profit do I want to make?”,

“when do I want to retire?”

and most importantly…

“what do I want to leave as a legacy for my kids?”

Now, years have passed, it’s 2014, and it’s time to question…

When was the last time you sat down with a professional to review your current business plan and seriously consider where you'll be five years from now?

Because, the more you put off planning for the future, the less time you will have to make the right decisions and get your business and your investments working for you before you retire. Watch out for these early warning signs that you need to do something different …

1. You’re busy working long hours,
2. You’re sweating every month to make payroll
3. You’re dreaming of a retirement you're not sure will ever happen!

Maybe, it’s time for you to consider an alternative approach …

Take a few moments to imagine five years from now.

You’re on track to choose when you want to retire, you have saved 10’s of thousands of euros in tax and you have peace of mind - knowing you made the right decisions.

That's why you need to start planning now …

Because, the new issues you will face from age 49 onwards may well take you by surprise and lead you to a poor retirement instead of the wealthy future you richly deserve. Over the next month we’ll be writing articles covering the main areas you need to consider and decisions you need to make …

A. Tax implications of your financial decisions …

 1. Retirement Relief if you decide to sell your business

  2. Gift Tax

  3. Inheritance planning

  4. Putting money in and taking money out of pensions

B. Do you have enough income to retire (where is it coming from, and will it be enough?)

  1. Sell your business or handover to your successor (takes up to three years to do properly, and doing it badly can cost you thousands).

 2. Your pension provisions and investments (Your fees can eat up lots of your hard earned capital if you don’t keep an eye on them).

 3. Multiple diverse sources of income.

C. Decisions on running your business that need to be addressed to simplify the road ahead, including ...

 1. Your role, and who is going to drive your business strategy.

 2. Management of the business.

 3. Your health and wellbeing.

With all these decisions to be made, you need to ensure you get the right information to make informed choices.