“Ever to stop to think your business will
last only as long as you do?”
-Ben Feldman
How can a person make sure their business is passed on to their family and not to their creditors or the government for taxes?**** That's really the bottom line, keeping your family and business together in the event of your death. Certainly there's a price tag on doing something to protect your life’s business venture. But the price tag on doing nothing may be much higher. Somebody has to pay. If not you, then your family.
The Feldman Agency offers a wide array of services to help business owners address their financial needs at every stage of the business life cycle. Taking into account their personal values and financial goals, we create and execute customized plans to help entrepreneurs meet their objectives.
Financial Planning in Business****
Problem: Guiding the destiny of a successful business isn't easy. Each day you're confronted with new financial, tax and insurance problems. Laws change. The economic environment changes. Yesterday's solutions may not work today. They certainly won't work tomorrow. And while you're busy attending to today's business problems, what are you doing to plan for tomorrow? Have you made adequate provision for your retirement? And what happens to your family if something happens to you?
Solution:
The future seems to have a way of getting here sooner than we expect. There never seems to be enough time to do everything we planned. You're an expert at managing your company. We're experts at helping you plan for a secure tomorrow. At The Feldman Agency we work very closely with you to design financial programs that protect your family as well as your business. After all, why do you work so hard to build a business? Isn’t it for your family?
Business Insurance
Problem: What happens when a person’s business is the bulk of their estate? You spend a lifetime building a business. You plow your profits back into the company to keep it growing, locking your assets up in bricks, steel and machinery. You owe little or no money at all. Yet the day you die, you may owe hundreds of thousands - even millions - of dollars. Those dollars you've locked up will have to be unlocked. Uncle Sam doesn't want bricks and steel. He wants cash; Liquidation may be the only way. And that could take your estate apart overnight.
Solution:
If you are willing to exchange a lifetime of effort for your estate, it should be worth keeping. We can tailor a program to your needs to insure the continuation of your business. For example, a Split Dollar Contract. Your company sets up a special account into which it pays the insurance premiums. Our company sets up an account into which we place the face value of your insurance policy.
Funding Buy-Sell Agreements
Problem: A joint ownership form of business structure creates its own special set of issues. A jointly owned business is something like two people on a seesaw. As long as both partners are alive, they balance each other and the business runs smoothly. But imagine what happens when one partner dies. If your partner were to die, their spouse would probably become your new partner. You'd want to buy that person’s share of the business. But where is the money going to come from?
Solution:
Many partnerships have agreements to buy each other out in the event of one partner's death. But what good is such an agreement without the money to buy. We can create a plan that will make sure that either partner will be able to buy out the other's interest in the event of death. We will develop a "seesaw insurance” plan designed to meet your needs. When one partner dies, the other buys. If your business is a corporation, rather than a partnership, The Feldman Agency can still use life insurance to fund Buy-Sell Agreements to fit your special situation.
Exit Strategy
Problem: You built a successful business which has provided the lifestyle you desire. How do you keep that lifestyle yet leave the business to enjoy retirement? You need the income from the business yet you cannot find a buyer and your kids don’t want to take it over. How can you retire?
Solution:
The truth is many small business owners have no exit strategy for death, disability or retirement. Planning your exit is a big undertaking that has implications regarding your lifestyle, your employees, your business structure, its assets and your tax obligations. The Feldman Agency will explore the options and assist you in designing a strategy so that you can comfortably exit the business, under any circumstance.
Key Person Protection
Problem: What happens to a company the day a "key-person" walks out and never returns? Will the bank extend the same line of credit to the man or woman who takes their place?
Solution:
Almost every business insures its equipment, buildings and most of its other assets. Yet it fails to insure its money-making machine, the "key-person." Isn't skilled management your company's most valuable asset? The management ability of a key man or woman can mean the difference between profit or loss. When a key person dies, your bank will want to make sure that your company will continue to meet its financial obligations. Key person insurance will create the cash needed to absorb the problems that arise when a key employee dies.
Funding Deferred
Compensation
Problem: The more a person makes, the more the taxman takes. The successful business person may soon find that they have to earn two dollars in order to keep one. How can you "shelter" part of your earnings to reduce the tax burden and yet make sure you'll have the income when you need it most?
Solution:
By deferring part of your compensation until retirement, you can substantially reduce the tax bite since at retirement you're likely to be in a much lower tax bracket. The Feldman Agency can put together a plan that guarantees income continuation for yourself and key individuals in your company. Such a plan will provide cash values for you, and death benefits for your family. Moreover, the plan will not have to be tax qualified with the federal government.
Employee Benefits
Problem: The success or failure of a company depends heavily on the caliber of its employees. To grow, a company must recruit and retain top notch talent. One of the ways companies compete for executive talent is through employee benefit programs. But how can a company of modest size offer employee benefits that are competitive with those of large corporations?
Solution:
The most attractive employee benefits are not necessarily the most expensive. The key to a successful employee benefit program is the ability to develop a plan which precisely fits the requirements of a particular company. A plan that will maximize employee benefits, and minimize the tax bill**. The Feldman Agency has the ability and experience to compare and evaluate all of the different types of retirement and group benefit plans available, in order to design a program that's just right for your company. And when that program is in place, we won't just walk away. Instead, we'll continue to service your plan, making sure you take advantage of the latest developments in this changing field.