Licensed Business Consultant Sarah Nadler & Financial Consultant Ben Nadler (Her Hubby!) Share Five Strategies Entrepreneurs Can Use To Plan For Retirement

The formula for “how much” you need in order to retire is typically based upon an amount of income you would need to replace when you are no longer working at a J.O.B. This “retirement planning model” is the generally-accepted practice amongst the financial advisor community and is distributed to the general population.

But it's not the best one for entrepreneurs.

As a service-based business owner, firstly - a lot of the traditional savings vehicles don't make sense. You don't have a 401(k) or if you do there isn't anyone 'matching' it.

And if you're just starting out in business, it might be years (depending on your industry and business model) before the company you build can afford a nice retirement package for the owner.

As a business owner, you should follow a financial planning process that puts the focus on INCOME rather than accumulation of savings. In other words, don’t ask the question of “How much do I need to save for retirement?” Ask the question, “How much in INCOME do I want to have in retirement?”

For those who are new to the blog, Sarah Nadler is a Life Coach & inspirational speaker with twelve years of experience helping clients reach relationship, career and Big Hairy Audacious life goals. Her work has been featured on Enterprise Podcast Network, The Sierra Leone Times, and her latest book Walking Past Expectations was rated #6 on Lifney's list of Best Books to Read On The Beach This Summer 2019.

Here’s how to do the math in this type of retirement strategy:

• Determine your minimum monthly income needs. This is an income amount that would pay for all of your basic household financial requirements, and it comes from investments that require little or no attention from you. Don’t get caught up in the significance of “what investments do this?” Just name the amount – 5k, 10k, 15k? It doesn’t matter – the math can be done later. Right now I just want you to NAME the minimum amount of income you need.
• Determine your DESIRED monthly income needs. This is an income amount you want to have coming in that pays for your desired lifestyle. The income would be generated from ALL of your income producing investments. Some of those investments may be “passive” and some would require more of your attention (such as businesses, consulting, or some real estate).

The beauty of this retirement planning model is that YOU DETERMINE WHAT YOU WANT, FIRST AND FOREMOST, and then reverse engineer what you would need to do in order to produce this amount of income. 25K? 40k? 80k? It’s entirely up to you.

This INCOME-based planning approach puts you in the driver’s seat. It allows you to align your income with the lifestyle you WANT to have. It doesn’t make you reliant on 1 or 2 income sources from investment vehicles with potentially volatile performance that has too large an impact on your ability to live life on your terms.

Watch the video below for more information on the options you have as a business owner for retirement (not financial or investment advice - purely for informational purposes.)

xo, Sarah