Most owners of successful closely held and family businesses simply do not think about using reasonable leverage as a tool to redistribute stock ownership, provide liquidity for certain shareholders, provide special dividends, or other transactions designed to provide liquidity for their shareholders. However, meet Harold.
The following is a list of 25 questions to think about in assessing whether you as an owner are treating your business as an investment. If you are a business adviser, you can ask the questions on your clients’ behalf or, better still, in meetings with them.
Wealth management for illiquid assets like in your closely held or family business is a big deal that is ignored by too many business owners. I use the term, “Pre-liquid,” to describe this wealth because that’s how you think about it. Your company is with you today, and someday you are going to sell it. […]
The management of liquid wealth in the United States, and indeed, in the world, is a well-established industry with many players. Americans are accustomed to having their wealth managed by others in one of a number of fashions. As I was thinking about liquid wealth management, I reflected on my own personal experiences and those […]
There will come a time when we don’t want to work in our business any longer, or we want to work less. And if neither of these things happen, there will come a time when we won’t be able to work any longer. In any event, it is a good idea to plan for all eventualities.
There are active markets for liquid securities. These markets comprise a substantial portion of the wealth of America. There are also assets that, by their very nature, are illiquid in that they have no well-developed markets. Examples might include commercial real estate, developmental land, timber, other real estate assets, oil rights and many others. The example for discussion today, however, is your illiquid (pre-liquid) investment in your closely held or family business.
Today, we begin a discussion of illiquid wealth, or what I sometimes call pre-liquid wealth. Asset categories of illiquid wealth include land and timber, investment real estate, private placements, mineral resources and others. However, the category we will talk about is your investment in your closely held or family business. Chances are your investment in your business is the largest single asset in your portfolio, perhaps by far.
What are you doing to manage that wealth?
In a recent post on his Forbes.com blog, Steve Parrish of the Principal Financial Group mentioned a discussion with a financial advisor in which the advisor used the expression, “concentrate to create; diversify to protect.” This post discusses this concept as part of The One Percent Solution.
With this post we continue our investigation of the management of illiquid wealth in closely held and family businesses (The One Percent Solution) with a discussion of liquid wealth. By comparing and contrasting these two general forms of wealth, we can begin to understand the principles necessary to manage illiquid wealth. Liquid Wealth Defined Liquid wealth […]
We all have demons. This post discusses our professional, rather than personal, demons. The lesson is that if we name them, we can begin to do something about them. We can take the little steps that get the stone moving to the point where it has (or you have) momentum. And when you have momentum, you can leave your demons behind.
With this post I am beginning a new book, tentatively titled Managing Private Wealth from Closely Held Businesses: The One Percent Solution, and will post additional sections over the coming weeks. When it is complete, the book will be published as an Amazon Kindle book. The gist of the idea behind The One Percent Solution is:
Consider a budget for managing your pre-liquid wealth (defined as your ownership interest in your private company) similar to the fees you pay to manage your liquid wealth (stocks, bonds, other liquid investments).
