What Mark Zuckerberg Can Teach You About Planning for the Future of Your Business and your Estate
published 6/16/2016
Many individuals who are also business owners may not realize the potential benefits of conducting comprehensive estate planning for their business as well as for their personal estate.
Recent research indicates that there are differences in various generations when it comes to the prospect of talking about business succession planning or estate planning. Many older individuals, for example, may realize the benefits of estate planning because they are more likely to discuss this as part of their long-term goals and they may be setting up assets to pass the amount to future generations.
On the contrary, younger individuals may not think that they would need to have an estate plan in place but they could significantly benefit from one even if they did not currently have a family. Individuals who also own a family business have an added layer of complexity as it relates to estate planning. think about the experience of Sumner Redstone who is currently locked in an argument over trustees in his family about control of businesses, CBS and Viacom.
That being said, many younger business owners including Mark Zuckerberg are taking a different route to business succession planning that differs significantly from older generations. According to U.S. Trust, the company that explored this issue in a recent research study, although 71% of baby boomers recently reported that they have no formal exit strategy for their business, 52% of younger business owners did not have a plan in place.
The primary reasons that an older business owner was likely to not have a succession plan was concerns about quitting, dealing with end of life issues, or retiring. Younger business owners were more likely to want to identify the right opportunity to sell their business or exit the company at the right time and with the freedom to do so and therefore incorporate a business succession planning into their plans earlier rather than later. If you are concerned about including your business in your estate planning, contact an experienced Ohio estate planning attorney today.