If you are a business owner with a busy schedule, it’s unlikely that you have spent much time planning your retirement in detail.

You might have some broader ideas about your ideal retirement, including:

• The age at which you’d like to retire
• How you’d like to help your children or grandchildren financially
• Whether your business will be wound up, sold, or maintained by another person after you step down
• Bucket list items you’d like to tick off.

Yet if you set these expectations without planning for them carefully, you may struggle to make them a reality when you actually retire, even if you have accumulated plenty of wealth.

The devil’s in the details when it comes to having a comfortable, stress-free retirement – so if you’re in the final 10 to 15 years of your career as a business owner, keep reading to discover five handy tips for matching your retirement expectations with reality.

1. Keep building your personal pension wealth

We’ve previously published insights on why making personal pension lodgements as a business owner is an excellent way to tax-efficiently extract wealth from your company. Yet not only is a pension a helpful vehicle for extracting company wealth during your career, but it may also form an essential part of your retirement income.

You could be relying on money from a business sale to support you and your family in retirement. But if this windfall does not match up to your expectations, having a solid foundation of wealth within your pension pot could help you remain financially stable in retirement.

2. Ready your business for a sale far in advance

If you plan to sell your company upon retirement, it is crucial to understand how long it may take to prepare your business for a successful acquisition.

In our experience, it can take around three years to ready your business for a sale. Taking your time with this process could be hugely beneficial, as it may lead to a more lucrative sale, which in turn could more easily fund the retirement lifestyle you desire.

Similarly, if you are planning to pass leadership onto another individual without selling your business, it could be wise to begin this transition well in advance. Preparing to change hands early might help you to avoid costly teething problems.

3. Plan how you’re going to use the windfall from a business sale

Once you have an estimation of how much your business may sell for, if this is the path you choose, it’s time to plan for how you’re going to use this windfall to fund your retirement.

Indeed, you may assume that the hard part is achieving a sale that is right for you – but once the funds arrive, it’s how you manage them over the course of two, three, or even four decades that counts.

Some factors to consider when receiving a financial windfall at retirement include:

• How much tax you may pay on this money
• Investment strategies that suit your time frame and attitude to risk
• Whether you may wish to pass some of this wealth straight on to the next generation
• If the funds are enough to provide an income for the rest of your life.

With only a vague plan for how you may use the funds from a business sale, you could find that your financial expectations for retirement do not match the reality. On the other hand, preparing in advance with the help of a professional could help you to ascertain a more accurate view of your financial future.

4. Talk to your spouse or partner about your retirement plans

No matter if your spouse does not work, works for your company, or has their own separate career, it is essential to discuss your retirement plans with them.

Working together on retirement matters could help you to:

• Line up your retirement timelines
• Look at your combined later-life income from tax and lifestyle perspectives
• Work out how much financial support you could give to loved ones
• Have productive conversations about your goals.

Discussing the above prior to retirement, rather than once you have already set your individual plans in motion, could enable you to work as a team and stride towards your retirement goals together.

5. Ask a financial planner for guidance

Actioning the above steps requires plenty of time and professional financial expertise – two things that you may not have in spades.

So, if you would like to ensure your retirement expectations become a reality in the next decade or so, it could be very valuable to consult a financial planner. We work with business owners who want to put their retirement ideals into action, but who often simply don’t have the time to do so.

Our financial planners could guide you through:

• Building substantial pension wealth before you retire
• Setting the next generation up with financial support
• Extracting a sustainable retirement income from your business, personal investments, pensions, savings, and other assets
• Protecting the wealth you have accumulated throughout your career
• Creating a financial plan that suits your retirement timeline and takes your goals seriously.

To learn more about how we can help business owners and executives thrive before and during retirement, get in touch today. Email us at clients@iqf.ie, or call 353 71 915 5560.

Please note

This article is for information only. It does not constitute advice.

It describes financial planning services that iQ Financial can offer to you. Financial planning services are not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

iQ Financial is not a tax adviser and tax advisory services are not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.