Maximize Financial Potential: Retirement Planning for Entrepreneurs

If you’ve built a successful business, you’ve probably spent more time focusing on growth than thinking about life after you step away. That’s common. Many entrepreneurs don’t follow a traditional retirement path—especially when most of their wealth sits inside the business.

Instead of relying on a 401(k) or pension, business owners face more variables. But proper planning can help turn your decades of work into long-term financial security.

Retirement Challenges Entrepreneurs Face

Employees usually have a clear retirement track: contribute to a workplace plan, collect an employer match, and let the markets do the rest.

Entrepreneurs face a more complex set of challenges. Your business likely represents your largest asset—but it’s not liquid, and you can’t always predict how much someone will pay for it down the road. You also don’t have automatic payroll deductions or built-in savings plans. That often leads to putting off retirement savings in favor of reinvesting in the business.

Then there’s the matter of succession. If you want your business to outlive your involvement—whether you hand it off to family, sell to a partner, or exit completely—you’ll need time, structure, and strategy. Without a plan, you could leave money and opportunity on the table.

Balancing Business Growth and Retirement Savings

Entrepreneurs often face a tough decision: should they put money into business expansion or personal retirement savings?

You don’t need to choose just one. While your business might offer high returns, we believe it’s important to diversify. Setting up a retirement plan—such as a SEP IRA, 401(k), or defined benefit plan—can help you build wealth outside the business, potentially reduce your tax bill, and help create options for the future.

Think of retirement savings as an investment in your future self. It doesn’t take away from your business—it works alongside it.

Retirement Investment Strategies That Can Work for Business Owners

Entrepreneurs tend to have a high tolerance for risk. You’ve taken risks to build something from scratch, and that mindset often extends to financial decisions. But leaning too heavily on your business to fund retirement could backfire if things don’t go as planned.

You can help protect yourself by building a portfolio that doesn’t rely entirely on your business. To help reduce risk and offer more flexibility later in life, consider the following:

• Use tax-advantaged retirement accounts designed for self-employed professionals.
• Build diversified investment portfolios with a mix of growth and income assets.
• Invest in real estate or dividend-producing stocks to generate future income.
• Maintain liquid assets for short-term needs so you don’t pull from business capital.

How Financial Advisors Help Business Owners Plan for Retirement

The right financial advisor does more than manage your investments. For business owners, an advisor serves as a guide through the retirement planning process—and often becomes a sounding board for complex financial decisions.

Here’s what a financial advisor is committed to helping you with:

• Tax strategy: Help lower your overall tax liability while maximizing savings.
• Succession planning: Create a plan for business transition or sale that supports your retirement goals. Savant can assist with business valuation.
• Estate planning: Coordinate personal and business assets to help protect your wealth.
• Investment management: Design a strategy that complements your business exposure.
• Exit preparation: Time your transition in a way that’s designed to help maximize value and minimize disruption.

An advisor can help connect the dots between your business and your future lifestyle—so your finances work as hard as you have.

Preparing to Sell or Transition Your Business

If your retirement hinges on passing off or selling your business, don’t wait until the last minute to start planning. The longer you delay, the fewer options you may have—and that can affect everything from your asking price to your ability to walk away on your own terms.

Start by getting a solid valuation. You need to know what your business is worth today, but also how that value might shift over time. From there, carefully think about your timing. Market conditions, your company’s performance, and your personal goals all play a role in choosing the right moment to make your exit. Savant’s business succession planning strategies can guide you through this process, helping to ensure your exit aligns with your goals and maximizes value.

How you structure the deal matters, too. Some owners sell outright, others opt for installment payments, and some choose to transfer ownership gradually—especially if family is involved. Whatever route you take, make sure the transition lines up with your broader retirement plan. That includes thinking through your tax situation, your income needs, and what kind of legacy you want to leave behind.

Creating Reliable Income in Retirement

After you exit your business, you’ll need a plan to replace the income it once provided. Common income strategies for retired entrepreneurs include:

• Drawing from retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s.
• Setting up annuities or fixed income investments.
• Selling off business-related assets or property.
• Using taxable investment accounts for flexible withdrawals.
• Leveraging rental or passive income streams.

A combination of these sources often helps provide the most stability and tax efficiency.

Key Tax Considerations for Entrepreneurs

Taxes can play a major role in your retirement strategy—especially if you’re an entrepreneur with a mix of income sources and assets. The good news is there are ways to plan ahead and keep more of what you’ve built. Working with a firm that provides comprehensive tax advisory services can help you defer income, manage capital gains, and reduce your overall tax burden both now and in retirement.

One common approach involves deferring income into retirement plans to help reduce your current tax bill. When it comes time to sell your business, timing those capital gains can also help you qualify for more favorable tax treatment. Some entrepreneurs use gifting or estate strategies to ease the tax burden on their heirs. Others turn to trusts or family entities to protect their wealth and manage it more efficiently across generations.

How Savant Wealth Management Helps Entrepreneurs

At Savant Wealth Management, we work with entrepreneurs every day to help bridge the gap between their business and personal financial lives.

We help business owners value their business accurately, create a plan for succession or sale, and optimize taxes across both business and personal income, with the goal of building a retirement lifestyle they can count on.

Your business is a major piece of your financial story—and we treat it that way. We are committed to helping you build a retirement plan that reflects the work you’ve done, the risks you’ve taken, and the future you’ve earned. Ready to take the next step in aligning your business and personal financial goals? Schedule a call with a Savant advisor to start building a retirement plan tailored to your entrepreneurial journey.