Business Owner Planning Questions
Questions to consider about key employees, corporate capital, and business transition.
Business decisions about employees, corporate resources, and ownership transition can affect one another. These questions can help you identify topics to discuss with your financial, tax, legal, and retirement plan professionals. Not every question applies to every business, and the right approach depends on your circumstances.
Key Employee Benefits
What strategies could help your business recruit, reward, and retain mission-critical employees?
Are there ways to recognize top performers beyond the benefits available through your qualified retirement plan?
Could incentive compensation help key employees think and act with a longer-term view of the business, without granting equity?
Would a long-term incentive arrangement support your retention goals? What costs, conditions, and risks should be reviewed?
Are there additional benefit or deferral arrangements that may be appropriate for eligible employees, subject to plan terms and applicable rules?
Corporate Capital Management
Is your company maintaining enough liquidity for unexpected needs, opportunities, or disruptions?
Have you reviewed how corporate investment decisions fit your liquidity needs, accounting treatment, and tax considerations with the appropriate professionals?
How do your current cash and investment policies account for market volatility and other business risks?
What plans are in place if a mission-critical employee dies, becomes disabled, or leaves the business?
Should Corporate Owned Life Insurance (COLI) or another funding approach be evaluated? What costs, risks, plan requirements, and tax treatment should your professional team consider?
Succession and Exit Planning
What steps could help you prepare to realize business value, and which timing or tax questions should you discuss with your CPA?
Have you considered funding approaches that could support a future sale, succession, or internal transition?
If key employees may become future owners, what transition structures could be explored, and how might the purchase be funded?
How might a future transition affect your retirement income needs and the tax treatment of your income?
Have you discussed with your legal and tax professionals how to address creditor exposure, estate planning, and potential tax obligations?
How to Use These Questions
Use the questions that fit your business to identify topics for further discussion. They are prompts for planning conversations, not recommendations that a particular product, plan design, or strategy is appropriate for your company.
Hafemann Financial Services helps business owners consider retirement plan structure, key-person and continuity issues, corporate capital considerations, and transition readiness. We coordinate with independent tax, legal, retirement plan, and other specialists as appropriate. Tax and legal professionals remain responsible for their respective advice, compliance, and services.
Ready to Discuss Your Planning Considerations?
If one or more of these questions apply to your situation, contact Hafemann Financial Services to discuss the planning considerations and determine which professionals should be involved.
Scope note:This page is general educational information, not individualized tax, legal, investment, insurance, or fiduciary advice. Plan features and tax treatment depend on plan terms, applicable rules, and individual circumstances. No outcome is guaranteed.