Provide For Children With Special Needs Including Autism

People with disabilities or challenges require special care. We have tremendous respect for care givers everywhere.We are also sensitive to the fact that physical and financial needs require careful planning day to day, for contingencies, and for the long term. We can help you plan to “be there for them” now and in the future.

For example, you might need a qualified care giver you can trust, but are unsure of how to find them. Fortunately, people in our network can help provide advice on securing quality caregivers and procuring assistive technology to help achieve greater independence and quality of life.

On the financial side, the sooner you begin to plan and allocate resources towards long-term care for the special people in your life, the better. In fact, there are a wide-variety of tools that you can use to provide for their future care. Of course, the first stage includes traditional life insurance and a trust – and we can help you there. We will also be there with you as your assets grow, and additional tools become available – some of which may lower short-term costs and increase long-term benefits.

For example, more sophisticated types of insurance or an annuity may be in order. Perhaps for you, the long-term strategy may be to provide lifetime income through the procurement of income producing assets such as real estate. These assets could be held and managed in a trust or other entity appropriate to your situation. Maybe a business you are building will become the long-term vehicle. The point here is, there are many possible paths to your goal and we are willing to take the time to understand your needs. Once we understand what you want to accomplish, we’ll help you decide the best path for you and your loved ones, and work with you to develop a strategy for getting there.

As the saying goes, “hope is not a strategy”. In reality, a sound strategy can help meet your immediate needs, and more importantly, help you progress step by step towards your ultimate goal. Just as you don’t go out for a walk and end up climbing a mountain (regardless of where you live), you don’t meet a substantial financial goal without a strategy, a tactical plan, and the proper tools for each step of the journey. Let’s work together to make the strategy and plan that is best for your situation. Our independent status permits us to take all of the available tools into account in planning to help you achieve your goals.

Absolute Conclusions is here for you, to help ensure your loved ones continue to get the care and security they need. Schedule a talk with Mark to secure their future.

Plan a call with Mark

At Absolute Conclusions, we pride ourselves on staying informed of the best practices and best plans available. Our core goal is to help you create and maintain your legacy. Our independent status enables us to align completely with your interests, and we can also offer fee-based consultations, insurance audits, and reality-checks to provide further peace of mind. Please remember that the buy-sell agreement and funding plan should be reviewed annually, and at any time a significant change in the business size or scope occurs. If you have any questions or feedback on this article, click the Schedule a Call button to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.

4 Steps to Business Succession Planning

Many people find business succession planning confusing, or even intimidating. Few find it fun, which is part of why Absolute Conclusions is here – we see it as a fun and fascinating three dimensional puzzle to be solved. Our passion for helping people create and maintain their legacy demands that we stay on top of our game, and find ways to strip away the jargon and make complex subjects easy to understand. With that in mind, we’ve developed these 4 steps to business succession planning.

• Decide and agree.You know that you may not want to work forever, and frankly you can’t until we find a way to live forever. Like it or not, you and any partners you have, will eventually exit the business for some reason. Some typical reasons include insolvency, divorce, disability, disagreement, death, and retirement. What happens next? Do beneficiaries become partners? Does the business get sold, and if so, to whom? At what price? On what terms? These things need to be decided and agreed upon, and it is much better and much easier to do it long before an event occurs that requires the action. Planning in advance provides the time to rationally consider the options, and talk through them with your partners, family, and advisors. The first step is to decide and agree on what will happen, and then –

• Document the decisions in a Buy-Sell agreement. A buy-sell agreement is a key part of the business succession plan, and it is essential to protecting your legacy. Ideally this will be done at the same time as the operating agreement, but this is a must-have for any business. The buy-sell agreement includes the conditions that will result in a sale (often called a trigger event). For example, a trigger event could be a key person becoming unable to work. Another could be they become financially insolvent, etc. The buy-sell agreement defines the trigger events and details what happens next. For example, one partner may purchase another partner’s interest. Or provisions may be made by which employees can purchase and continue the business. The agreement would also include how the value of the business will be calculated, terms of the sale, and more. This helps provide for business continuity and stability. Perhaps more importantly, it helps ensure the financial future for you and your loved ones.

• Fund the plan. All that planning was great and necessary. However, it is worthless if the money isn’t there to execute the plan. Although a partner may have the net worth, liquid capital is required to execute the buy-sell agreement. It is the responsibility of the business to make sure there are sufficient funds available to implement the agreement and continue the business. Let’s face it, lenders don’t lend to businesses in distress. For them, the disability, insolvency, or exit of a partner puts a business in distress. Funding the plan is not something that can be effectively handled after the fact. It is essential to make provisions to fund the plan from the start. When the business is small, simply establishing a capital reserve may be sufficient. As the business grows, it may become more difficult to maintain sufficient reserves because they may be maintained at the expense of additional growth. Fortunately, there are a variety of options for funding the plan via insurance, as successful people have been doing for generations.

• Revisit the plan annually. As your business grows and changes, your needs may change and additional opportunities may become available. Your personal situation, goals and desires will also evolve over time. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you review your plan annually or whenever there is a significant change in business or personal strategy. A bit of time with your business partners and advisors will help ensure your plans meet your current needs and goals.

At Absolute Conclusions, we pride ourselves on staying informed of the best practices and best plans available. Our core goal is to help you create and maintain your legacy. Our independent status enables us to align completely with your interests, and we can also offer fee-based consultations, insurance audits, and reality-checks to provide further peace of mind. Please remember that the buy-sell agreement and funding plan should be reviewed annually, and at any time a significant change in the business size or scope occurs. If you have any questions or feedback on this article, click the Schedule a Call button to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.

Please note: This document is intended to provide introductory information on the subject matter. Absolute Conclusions does not provide tax and legal advice. You should consult with independent financial, tax and/or legal professionals before making financial investmentor planning decisions.