^Blog Retirement – What’s Holding You Back?

Have you spent your entire life building your business? Has your passion for your business and its growth consumed you to the point that you don’t have many hobbies or interests outside of your business?

If so, you’re not alone. This attitude that helped you grow your business can be detrimental when it comes time to retire.

Gary is a client of ours who wanted to retire from his business. For years he would talk about retiring “in five years.” Year after year we noticed his time frame never changed – it was always “in five years.”

We needed to get to the bottom of this.

While Gary’s family was ready for him to retire, he was not. This is because his business provided him a sense of significance. Deep down, Gary knew he didn’t have anything that would replace the significance his business currently provided him. This helped us realize he would only retire once he had something to retire to.

And so, we began the journey of helping Gary consider life after his business.

We eventually found what we were looking for: something to motivate Gary to retire from his business.

As a part of our regular conversations we noticed a common theme in his vision for his future. He talked about owning horses and when he spoke of them, his eyes lit up. He always had a dream to build a riding arena for his family and friends so they could ride and train horses. We began to explore this further and realized this could become a reality for Gary in his retirement. Now that Gary had something waiting for him outside of his business, he was much more open to create a plan for his exit.

Something interesting happened. Not only did Gary accept the idea of retirement – he began to look forward to it. This gave him the renewed energy he needed to work towards his exit from the business.

While Gary’s hobby may be unique, his story is not. His problems are shared with many business families (and perhaps your own). Unless you have something to retire to, you may find it difficult to have the motivation and energy needed to create a plan for your eventual exit.

Business owners feel significance from owning their business. This significance must be replaced in one way or another to create a compelling reason to retire.

As a business owner, your retirement planning involves so much more than creating an exit strategy and considering tax implications. A successful transition out of your business also involves careful thought around what you are going to do once you retire.

What does life look like for you once you retire? If you are feeling held back, perhaps it’s because you don’t have a clear vision of what you want to do after you exit your business.

If you are looking to start planning for retirement, we can help. Three60 Wealth & Estate Solutions helps business families reclaim their time, gain peace of mind and achieve their own unique version of success. The team of Calgary-based wealth and estate planners have curated a trusted network of professionals to eliminate your planning blind spots and identify potential opportunities you may not realize you have. Together, let’s maximize your life’s work!

For a truly different financial planning experience, contact our office online or at 403-640-4414 to schedule an introduction meeting.

Authored by: Jason Nagel, Director of Advanced Planning at Three60 Wealth & Estate Solutions Inc.