Retirement Onboarding - Retirement, Time, and Money

Construction business owners should look at time and money very simply in their retirement at the start of planning their retirement onboarding.

Sue Weiler-Doke Profile Picture
Share
Contributors David Brown
  1. Figure out the approximate annual cost of the desired lifestyle in retirement.
  2. Multiply that by 20 and that is approximately the size of the total retirement portfolio required.

Those numbers are good enough for general planning purposes. A combination of a good financial planner, CPA, and attorney can very likely improve upon these metrics but start here. This is no different than starting the architectural programming and schematic phases with some basic square-foot estimates.

For construction business owners, there are a few dynamics in play that make these calculations more difficult than a simple 401(k) retirement calculator:

  • Many owners and executives have personal expenses co-mingled with the business to some degree, including vehicles, meals, entertainment, phones, technology, etc. Understanding what those will truly look like in retirement is often challenging.
  • Many owners are continuously reinvesting their retained earnings into the business for working capital, which means that while their net worth is steadily increasing, their liquid cash for investment in a traditional retirement planning arrangement is weighted toward later in life.

This is Part 8 of a 15-Part Series


Topics Covered in the Series Include:

  • When is it Too Late to Start My Retirement Planning?
  • Future Vision for Your Company
  • Post-Retirement Business Involvement
  • Where to Turn for a Helping Hand
  • The Ideal Lifestyle for the Retiring Contractor

Interested in learning more? Contact us.


More from Sue Weiler-Doke
Retirement Onboarding - Integrating Other People and Processes
Retirement Onboarding seems simple enough, but it cannot occur in a vacuum. Owners need to look at all of the stakeholders that will be affected by their decision.
Retirement Onboarding - Issues Specific to Contractors
Construction business owners have a unique set of issues when they are working through “Retirement Onboarding”.
Retirement Onboarding - Success & Risk
Nearly all of the 6 common exit strategies for contractors require the business to continue being successful for the outgoing owner to get paid. There are a couple of things that can be done to help ensure everything stays on track.