My guest today is Todd Krough, a Senior Wealth Adviser with Tealwood Asset Management. Tealwood is a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) group who specializes in working with business owners.
Todd is a CEPA (Certified Exit Planning Adviser) like me and helped me launch the Twin Cities EPI Chapter in 2016. We talked today about the importance of business owners having a 3 pronged plan:
Personal Plan (a life plan)
Financial Plan
Business Plan
Most owners struggle with the Financial Planning part because most of their wealth is tied up in the business and they don't have much for investable assets. Todd advised that owners get started with an adviser anyway, to get a written plan in place, even if they don't have any or many dollars to invest in the markets. Get a plan and ease into it, Todd says. You don't have to go at it with great guns, just a bit at a time to become accustomed to how it works, so when your liquidity event occurs, you are familiar with investing outside your business asset.
One thing Todd said which I felt was vitally important but many times missing between owners and their advisers is regularly scheduled check in meetings. Todd meets with every client on a quarterly basis, and has a longer meeting on an annual basis. That way if the strategy needs a change, there's time to do so without fear of losing out on opportunities. Collaborating with other professional advisers to the owner is also an essential step in successful transition planning!
For family businesses, Todd said that the next generation of leaders need to have their own financial planning done aside from their parents. If they are going to grow the legacy from where the parents left off, they'll need a solid financial plan to do so that shields them from all their eggs in one basket!
For more on this topic, check out the episode now.
Find Todd here and find Julie here.
Thank you to our Sponsors! Village Bank, Baker Tilly US, and Sunbelt Business Advisors.
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