Family businesses are most at risk for financial troubles based on a lack of formal succession planning and preparation, and on family business owners' personal financial issues, according to MassMutual Financial Group's 2007 American Family Business Survey. The survey also found that family businesses are growing in jobs and revenues, and often with women leading that growth.
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A guide to minimizing the after-tax proceeds from the sale of a family business. According to the article, legal exit preparations involve a 3-step process: due diligence investigations (i.e., public searches, review of minute books and key contracts, etc.); identify any 'skeletons' and consider what options exist to remedy or neutralize them; finally, create and implement a plan to manage these skeletons.
Proper asset allocation and estate planning is often the best gift to children who have neither an interest in, nor propensity for, running the family business. Sale of the family business is usually a once-in-a-lifetime chance to achieve meaningful liquidity, and well-qualified advisors can add much more in transaction value and stress relief than they take away in fees.
According to research conducted by JPMorgan Private Bank's Advice Lab, almost one in three family-owned businesses has experienced some form of liquidity event over the last 12 years. An outright sale or a merger or initial public offering has major implications for businesses that may have been family-run for generations. The analysis highlights how liquidity events can undermine a family's sense of purpose and cohesion, as well as its capital.
Selling the family-owned business is one of the most important financial decisions and transactions that any family will face. Business owners, their children and grandchildren will live with the results for a long time to come. Getting it right is important to maximize family wealth, and some basic advance planning — even several years in advance — could help achieve that critical goal.
Leadership succession and governance are important issues for every financial family. However, these issues are especially complex for business-owning families. To explore succession from an expert perspective, FOX spoke with Kelin Gersick, co-founder and senior partner of Lansberg, Gersick & Associates, a consulting and research firm specializing in family enterprise and philanthropy.
Many wealthy families desire a seamless transition of their wealth and a perpetuation of their values for multiple generations, but many struggle with how to accomplish these goals effectively. Successful families typically take intentional steps to create family meetings that foster communication, education and engagement, in order to promote collaboration and trust among family members.This article provides a number of key elements to consider when developing a successful family meeting.
Families with significant wealth often assume that requiring a prenuptial agreement should be expected, but frequently have questions on the impact the discussion can have on current and future family relationships. Through effective communications and careful development, a prenuptial agreement can enhance and clarify a couple’s financial relationship and intentions prior to marriage to provide measures of safety and security.
In a competitive global marketplace, employers across the United States spend countless resources attempting to set themselves apart and claim their share of available business opportunities. Against that backdrop, it is easy to understand why employers will do everything possible to protect the confidential information they have created and the goodwill they have built with their customers. Employees are a critical element in building that success, but they can also be well-positioned to undermine such efforts when a relationship turns sour or where they are courted by a competitor.
In May 2017, the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Although at this point it is just a bill and not the law, the House bill provides insights into what the future may hold for employer plans. If the bill is passed, there are ten key points that impact employer-sponsored benefit plans, including modified continuous coverage requirement for pre-existing conditions, cafeteria plan changes, and elimination of additional medicare tax.